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Heterosexual men’s attitudes towards homosexuality and ingroup distinctiveness : The role of perceived men’s feminisation
Iacoviello, Vincenzo Valsecchi, Giulia Berent, Jacques Anderson, Joel Falomir-Pichastor, Juan M.
Iacoviello, Vincenzo
Valsecchi, Giulia
Berent, Jacques
Anderson, Joel
Falomir-Pichastor, Juan M.
Abstract
The present research tested the hypothesis that perceived men’s feminisation can decrease heterosexual men’s positive attitudes towards homosexuality because of their increased motivation to psychologically differentiate heterosexual men from gay men – i.e. in order to restore ingroup distinctiveness. Study 1 (N = 173) manipulated perceptions of men’s feminisation and showed that prompting participants with bogus evidence that men are becoming feminine decreased positive attitudes towards homosexuality. Furthermore, the extent to which heterosexual men reported increased psychological differentiation from gay men (both at the interpersonal and the intergroup levels) mediated the impact of perceived men’s feminisation on attitudes towards homosexuality. Study 2 (N = 178) used a fully experimental approach and manipulated perceived biological differences between heterosexual and gay men in order to threaten or grant ingroup distinctiveness. The results revealed that perceived men’s feminisation decreased positive attitudes towards homosexuality in the distinctiveness threat condition (i.e. when gay men were described as biologically similar to straight men), but increased positive attitudes both when ingroup distinctiveness was granted (i.e. when gay men were described as biologically different from straight men) and when it was not relevant (i.e. when the similarity of all human beings was salient). We discuss the relevance of these findings for masculinity norms, attitudes towards homosexuality, and the ingroup distinctiveness literature.
Keywords
masculinity, men’s feminisation, ingroup distinctiveness, biological theory of sexual orientation, attitudes towards homosexuality
Date
2020
Type
Journal article
Journal
Psychology and Sexuality
Book
Volume
11
Issue
1-2
Page Range
45-61
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as green open access
License
File Access
Controlled
Open
Open