System Justification, Right-Wing Conservatism, and Internalized Homophobia: Gay and Lesbian Attitudes toward Same-Sex Parenting in Italy

Abstract

Adopting a system justification perspective (Jost and Banaji 1994), we investigated the manner and extent to which gay men and lesbians might internalize a sense of inferiority when it comes to parenthood. In an Italian sample of gay and lesbian individuals, we found that gay men who scored high (versus low) on system justification and right-wing conservatism regarded same sex parents as less competent; these effects were mediated by internalized homophobia. Lesbian women, however, perceived lesbian parents as more competent than opposite sex parents, regardless of ideological orientations. For gay men the internalization of societal discrimination harms perceptions of parental competence, whereas for lesbians gender stereotypes about parenting trump the negative effects of bias related to sexual orientation. These findings suggest that men's and women's perceptions of their own bodies and capacities are strongly affected by sociocultural processes, including ideological processes.

Adoption of Children by Homosexual Couples: The Social Representations

“…Previously conducted studies have showed that negative positions exceed positive ones (Araújo et al, 2007;Cerqueira-Santos & Santana, 2015;Pacilli, Taurino, Jost, & van der Toorn, 2011).…”

Adoção de crianças por casais homossexuais: as representações sociais

“…O que pode ser percebido em pesquisas realizadas previamente e demonstraram que os posicionamentos negativos, sobressaiam aos positivos (Araújo et al, 2007;Cerqueira-Santos & Santana, 2015;Pacilli, Taurino, Jost, & van der Toorn, 2011).…”

Paths to the recognition of homo-parental adoptive rights in the EU-27: a QCA analysis

“…The research in the field has been typically conducted at the micro level and has attempted to understand the variables that explain the tolerance/intolerance of individuals towards homosexuality and the rights of homosexuals (Larsen et al, 1980;Lewis, 2003;Brewer and Wilcox, 2005;Andersen and Fetner, 2008;Adamczyk and Pitt, 2009;Schwartz, 2010;Baunach, 2012;Becker, 2012;Pacilli et al, 2011;Van den Akker et al, 2012). Other literature has contributed to the understanding of issues such as health, education or employment in the LGBT community (Robinson and Ferfolja, 2001;Lambert et al, 2006) or to the analysis of LGBT associations (Calvo and Trujillo, 2011).…”