The Effect of Psychoeducation on Attitudes Toward Bisexuality

Abstract

The attitudes of 124 heterosexual college students were measured using the Attitudes Regarding Bisexuality Scale before and after reading a factual excerpt on bisexuality, an autobiographical excerpt of a bisexual woman, or an article unrelated to bisexuality. Tolerance toward bisexuality and the belief in the stability of bisexuality were assessed. Results showed that factual information was more effective in increasing the belief that bisexuality is stable compared to exposure to personal information. No change was found in tolerance toward bisexuality under any of the conditions. Factual information is a valuable tool in addressing negative attitudes towards bisexuality.

KEYWORDS:

• biphobia
• higher education
• intervention

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge Susan Beers, PhD, Tim Loboschefski, PhD, Roberta Sadler, PhD, and Daniel Gottlieb, PhD, for their invaluable assistance throughout the course of this project.

Notes

¹This widely used 10% figure did not, in fact, refer to men and women who are exclusively homosexual, so future studies should not use this wording. See the Discussion of this article.