Attitudes Toward Stereotypical Versus Counterstereotypical Gay Men and Lesbians

Abstract

This study examined differences in the way heterosexual men and women feel about gay men and lesbians who either confirm or disconfirm prevailing stereotypes. Fifty-three heterosexual college men and women read descriptions about 2 fictitious homosexual students at their university, both of whom were either male or female. One of the students was portrayed as being more stereotypically masculine, whereas the other was portrayed as more stereotypically feminine. Participants rated the targets on a variety of dimensions, including liking. Male participants liked the masculine gay man more than the feminine gay man, whereas female participants showed similar degrees of liking for both men. Both male and female participants reported greater liking for the feminine lesbian than the masculine lesbian. Implications for understanding attitudes toward stereotypical versus counterstereotypical gay men and lesbians are discussed.

Acknowledgments

We thank Vaida Thompson for her encouragement to pursue this project.

Notes

¹Despite the counterbalancing, in preliminary analyses we tested for order effects. The order the targets were presented did not moderate any of the findings we present.

Note. N = 53. Ratings ranged from 1 (not at all) to 7 (extremely). Means (with standard deviations) are presented.

²For similarity, there were marginal effects for participant sex, F(1, 49) = 3.57, p = .07, d = 0.54; Target Sex × Target Personality, F(1, 49) = 3.86, p = .06, d = 0.56; and Participant Sex × Target Sex × TargetPersonality, F(1, 49) = 3.86, p = .06, d = 0.56.

This article was submitted for publication under the Editorship of John DeLamater.