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Gender-Role's Attitude, Perceived Similarity, and Sexual Prejudice against Gay Men

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Juan Manuel Falomir-Pichastor ,
Carmen Martínez  and
Consuelo Paterna
Juan Manuel Falomir-Pichastor*
Affiliation:
University of Geneva (Switzerland)
Carmen Martínez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia (Spain)
Consuelo Paterna
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Juan M. Falomir-Pichastor. University of Geneva. FPSE. Social Psychology. Bd. du Pont d'Arve, 40. CH-1205 Geneva. (Switzerland). E-mail: Juan.Falomir@unige.ch
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Abstract

Two hundred and twenty-six heterosexual participants (115 women and 111 men) were asked to indicate their attitude toward gender-roles, their perceived similarities with gay men, and their attitude toward gay men (i.e., sexual prejudice). As expected, male participants showed more sexual prejudice than female participants, and perceived dissimilarities were related to a greater sexual prejudice. Support for gender-roles was related to sexual prejudice for male participants, but not for female participants. More interestingly, the three-way interaction suggested that perceived similarities moderated the link between gender-roles and sexual prejudice among heterosexual men, but not among heterosexual women. Attitude in favor of traditional gender-roles was related to sexual prejudice for male participants who perceived gay men as different, but not for those who perceived gay men as similar. These findings are discussed in terms of the defensive function of men's attitude toward homosexuality as a result of threat to masculinity.

En una muestra de 226 participantes heterosexuales (115 mujeres y 111 hombres) se ha medido la actitud hacia el rol de género, la similitud personal con los hombres homosexuales y la actitud hacia éstos (prejuicio sexual). Tal y como se esperaba, los hombres muestran más prejuicio que las mujeres, y la percepción de disimilitud está asociada a un mayor prejuicio. En los hombres, pero no en las mujeres, la actitud favorable hacia los roles tradicionales de género está relacionada con el prejuicio. Aún más interesante, la interacción triple sugiere que la percepción de similitud modera en los hombres, pero no en las mujeres, la relación entre la actitud hacia el rol de género y el prejuicio sexual. Una actitud más favorable hacia los roles tradicionales está asociada a un mayor prejuicio sexual en los hombres que perciben una mayor diferencia entre sí mismos y los homosexuales, pero no en aquellos que perciben una mayor semejanza. Estos resultados se discuten de acuerdo con la función defensiva de la actitud hacia la homosexualidad como resultado de la amenaza a la masculinidad.

Keywords

gender-rolessexual prejudiceintergroup differentiationrol de géneroprejuicio sexualdiferenciación intergrupo
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , November 2010 , pp. 841 - 848
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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