‘What's it like on your side of the pond?’: a cross-cultural comparison of modern and old-fashioned homonegativity between North American and European samples

Abstract

The aim of the current study is to conduct a simultaneous cross-cultural assessment of modern and old-fashioned prejudice towards gay men and lesbian women. Data collected in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States were compared to assess whether any notable differences in prejudice occurred and whether specific predictors of homonegativity (i.e. age of participants, gender, level of self-reported religiosity, level of education and contact with either a gay man or a lesbian woman) demonstrate the same predictive utility across all samples. The findings obtained by the current study highlight specific discrepancies in the prevalence of old-fashioned and modern homonegativity and suggest that the demographic variables assessed failed to account for comparable levels of variance across all samples. Implications of these findings, limitations of the current study and directions for future research are explored.

Homophobic Attitudes and Associated Factors Among Adolescents: A Comparison of Six Latin American Countries

“…Consistent with international studies (e.g., Kelley, 2001;McDermott & Blair, 2012, Smith, 2011, religion variables, such as attendance to religious services, participating in religious groups, and importance given to religion were positively associated with homophobic attitudes. Furthermore, differences were found between religions.…”

“…However, when all ages were taken into account, older participants showed in general more acceptance of homosexuality than younger participants. This result apparently contradicts what has been consistently found with adults (Kelley, 2001;McDermott & Blair, 2012, Smith, 2011, but is consistent with results of studies including adolescents (Feng et al, 2012;Flood & Hamilton, 2005;Greniez & García, 2008;Horn, 2006;Marsiglio, 1993;Van de Ven, 1994). This difference might be the result of two different processes that are not easy to differentiate: an effect of growing and an effect of generational change.…”

“…This was surprising since level of education has been shown to be associated with acceptance of homosexuality in previous studies (Feng et al, 2012; A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t Kelley, 2001;Lodola & Corral, 2010;McDermott & Blair, 2012, Seligson & Moreno, 2010Smith, 2011). It should be taken into account, however, that educational background was measured by their parents' level of education and the number of books at home, not by the respondents' level of education, which was in fact equal among participants (8 th and 9 th graders).…”

“…International studies conducted with adults have found large differences between countries in the level of agreement with homophobic attitudes (Kelley, 2001 A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t Kelley, 2001;McDermott & Blair, 2012, Poteat et al, 2013Smith, 2011;Van de Ven, 1994). Differences between male and female adolescents were, however, larger in some countries (e.g., Chile) than in others (e.g., Guatemala).…”

“…Although most adults are Catholics in the six countries, there seems to be a much larger population of Protestants in Guatemala, and a much larger group of non-religious in Chile than in the other countries (Latinobarómetro, 2014). Given what was described about the relation between acceptance of homosexuality and socio-economic and religious variables (Kelley, 2001;Lodola & Corral, 2010;Marcano, 2013;McDermott & Blair, 2012;Seligson & Moreno, 2010;Smith, 2011), it was expected that homophobic attitudes would be more prevalent in Guatemala and Dominican Republic than in Mexico and Chile, with Colombia and Paraguay in the middle. We also expected higher levels of homophobic attitudes among participants who were males, younger, with lower levels of education, with higher degrees of religiosity, non-catholic Christians, less empathic, with more attitudes supporting aggression, and lower levels of participation and engagement in school and out school activities.…”