Related sexual bias with fictional gay characters: A comparison between samples from El Salvador and the United Kingdom
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5377/typ.v1i36.14185Keywords:
Sexual Prejudice, Homophobia, Contact Theory, FictionAbstract
One strategy to reduce prejudice from one social group to another is the use of fictional stories. This mode of indirect contact serves as an alternative when direct contact is not feasible, due to lack of opportunity for an encounter or to the risks it may entail for the parties involved. The aim of this study was to compare levels of sexual prejudice in heterosexual participants who viewed or read a story with gay characters, and those who imagined an encounter with a gay individual or a control one. An experimental design was used to test whether sexual prejudice levels (high or low) were a function of type of story (fiction or imagination) and country of origin of participants (El Salvador or United Kingdom). Compared to United Kingdom participants, those from El Salvador scored
significantly lower on Social Dominance, higher on Authoritarianism and Heterosexual identification, and reported lower agreement with same-sex legal unions. No association was found between these factors and sexual prejudice scores. Potential explanations for these results are discussed, as well as future directions for the use of narratives as a strategy to reduce prejudice toward sexual minorities.
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