Examining Ingroup Biases Related to Antigay Prejudice

Abstract

<p>Empirical investigations exammmg antigay prejudice often present gays as a single, monolithic category. This characterization prevents respondents from thinking about the real variability that exists among gays not only with respect to gender (i.e., gay men vs. lesbians), but also with respect to race and ethnicity (Herek, 1988; Schulte & Battle, 2004). This poses a concern about what exactly is being activated when respondents are confronted with the general category of gays or one of its more specific representations (e.g., lesbians). The uncertainty may mean that any given response could reflect some abstract notion of the group or a more specific concrete representation. The purpose of this research is to clarify how these categorical representations affect antigay feelings. We hypothesized that heterosexual respondents' opinions about gays would be influenced by how gays as a group were represented. The rationale for this hypothesis follows the in-group bias theory which predicts variation in affect as a function of in-group vs. out-group judgments (Negy & Eisenman, 2005). Antigay affect is expected to vary by experimental condition with in-group judgments producing less negative affect. Approximately 320 Black and White heterosexual male and female undergraduates will be asked to complete a number of measures designed to assess their gender identity, religiosity, attitudes towards traditional values, and racial prejudice. Participants will be randomly assigned to 1 of 4 experimental conditions where they will evaluate either a lesbian or gay-male couple that is either black or white. Feelings towards the couple will be captured by the Attitudes Toward Gay Males and Lesbians scales, among other antigay measures. ANOVA and regression analyses will test for group differences and evidence of other mediating factors (i.e., gender identity, racial prejudice).</p><p>This presentation occurred at the Wright State University Campus-Wide Celebration of Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities on April 8, 2011</p>