Stefano Verreli

Question 1

Sexual prejudice

Answer 1

is any negative attitude, emotion, or behaviour
directed toward an individual because of his or her sexual
orientation.
– Prejudice towards sexual minorities (e.g., gays, lesbians, bisexuals):
– Blatant prejudice: e.g., anti-gay violence or being refused
employment.
– Subtle prejudice: e.g., anti-gay epithets

Question 2

Hillier et al., 2010

Answer 2

61% of young non-heterosexual people reported experiencing verbal abuse, 18% reported physical abuse related to their sexuality, and 69% reported at least one other type of abuse, such as cyber-bullying

Question 3

ABS (2010)

Answer 3

The impact of sexual prejudice and discrimination

Compared to heterosexuals, individuals who identify
as homosexual or bisexual experience higher levels of anxiety
disorders (31% vs. 14%), affective disorders (19% vs. 6%), and
substance use disorders (9% vs. 5%).

Question 4

Meyer (2003)

Answer 4

The impact of sexual prejudice and discrimination
Compared to heterosexuals, sexual minorities
experience higher rates of mental disorder.

Minority stress model: Sexual “stigma, prejudice, and discrimination
create a hostile and stressful social environment that causes mental
health problems”

Question 5

Kite and Whitley (1996)

Answer 5

meta-analytic review of 112 studies:
– Overall, men report more negative attitudes toward sexual
minorities than women.
– When rating gay men, men are particularly more negative than
women.
– When rating lesbians, there are no gender differences.

Results repatedwith USYD students – Sexual prejudice amongst University of Sydney students (n = 135):

Question 6

Whitley (2001)

Answer 6

Violations of traditional gender roles, norms, and beliefs are not viewed
positively.
– Homosexuality is perceived as violation of the traditional gender belief
system.

– Gender belief system theory:
Masculinity: Assertive
Decisive
Strong
A leader
Competent
Tough

Femininity: Cooperative
Express emotion
Sensitive
A follower
Warm and kind
Gentle

Question 7

Bem (1993)

Answer 7

Men endorse and adhere to traditional gender roles, norms,

and beliefs to a greater extent than women.

Question 8

Talley and Bettencourt (2008):

Answer 8

Sexual prejudice is motivated by the need to establish one’s
masculinity and punish others who fail to adhere to traditional
gender norms and roles.

Masculinity threat: False feedback on personality assessment, were rated as low masculinity or normal (control condition)
– Aggression: Word-association task. Were paired with a partner (gay or straight) and had to administer a noise blast when the partner got the noise wrong.

– Results:
Gay condition: Prejudiced people responded with more aggression when not threatened, both showed a lot of aggression when threatened, didn’t depend on the men’s initial levels of prejudice.

Straight condition: no effect of masculinity threatened and no effect of sexual prejudice, directed at gay men not straight men. Prejudice due to people not responding to traditional gender norms.

Question 9

Louderback and Whitley (1997)

Answer 9

Sexualisation of lesbians: Heterosexual men see lesbians and lesbianism through an erotic lens.
– Participants rated their attitudes towards gays and lesbians, as well as
the extent to which they found male-male and female-female sexual
activity erotic.
– Result: Men tended to eroticise lesbianism, which in turn counteracted the stigma associated with homosexuality.

Question 10

Plant & Devine, 1998

Answer 10

Political conservatism is associated with increased:
– Explicit sexual prejudice (e.g., self-reported attitudes)
– Implicit sexual prejudice (e.g., reaction times on an Implicit Association Test)

– Motivations to respond without prejudice

1. Internal motivations: Motivations derived from personally important standards to appear egalitarian.
2. External motivations: Motivations derived from the desire to conform to social pressure and avoid negative reactions

High Internal Motivation + Low External Motivation = Less Prejudice
Low Internal Motivation + High External Motivation = More Prejudice

Question 11

Verrelli and White (2016)

Answer 11

Participants (n = 222) completed a measure of political
orientation, internal and external motivations to respond without prejudice towards gay men, explicit sexual prejudice and sexuality IAT.

Political conservatism was related to high external but low internal motivations to respond without prejudice.

Question 12

Smith, Axelton, & Saucier (2009)

Answer 12

Meta-analytic data suggests that
“having contact with lesbians and gay men is associated with
reduced sexual prejudice towards homosexuals by heterosexuals” (p.
187).
- The contact-prejudice effect was:
- Equally robust for both correlational and experimental
studies.
- Influenced by the target group being measured.

The biggest effect size is lesbians: attitudes towards lesbians may be more flexible. But, direct face to face contact is not always an option and a common coping factor for homosexuals is not disclosing orientation.

Question 13

Kervinen, White, Verrelli, and Black (2015)

Answer 13

E-contact is computer mediated contact that allows ingroup and
outgroup members to interact online

Continuum of contact: distal, indirect forms of intergroup contact (e.g., E-contact) prepare people for more proximal, direct forms of intergroup contact (e.g., face-to-face outgroup interactions).

1. Engagement of the self in the contact situation
2. Less stressful than direct contact
3. Increases the opportunity for contact

Method:
- Heterosexual participants reported the quantity and quality of prior contact with gays and lesbians.
- Participants engaged in a 15 minute online interaction with either
(i) a virtual homosexual confederate or (ii) a virtual heterosexual confederate. Helping them to transition from High School to Uni.
- Approach behavioural tendencies measured (e.g., In general, when thinking
of gay people, I want to approach them)

Beneficial for people who didn’t previously interact with the out-group.

Question 14

Distal & Proximal Minority Stress Models

Answer 14

• Prejudiced events
• Expectations of rejection
• Concealment
• Internalised homophobia (IH)