Attitudes Toward Homosexuality Among Young Adults: Connections to Gender Role Identity, Gender-Typed Activities, and Religiosity

Abstract

Individual differences in attitudes toward homosexuality have been linked to numerous personality and demographic variables. This study investigated the influence that gender role identity, involvement in gender-typed activities, and religiosity plays in this relationship. The sample included 194 undergraduate students from a Northeastern university. Analyses revealed that both males and females who held a more masculine gender role identity and individual commitment to religion scored higher on measures of homophobia and heteronormativity, whereas there was no association between spiritual meaning in life and attitudes toward homosexuality. Among males, but not females, more masculine gender identity and less spiritual meaning in life was associated with greater homophobia. The importance of the findings for research on the origins of attitudes toward individuals with a homosexual orientation are discussed, as well as the potential directions for future research on connections between gender role identity, religious affiliation, and attitudes toward gays and lesbians.

KEYWORDS:

• heterosexism
• homosexuality
• masculinity
• femininity
• religiosity
• spirituality
• gender-typed activity

Additional information

Funding

This investigation was supported by a research development grant from the College of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences at Penn State Berks to the second author.