‘What's it like on your side of the pond?’: a cross-cultural comparison of modern and old-fashioned homonegativity between North American and European samples

Abstract

The aim of the current study is to conduct a simultaneous cross-cultural assessment of modern and old-fashioned prejudice towards gay men and lesbian women. Data collected in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States were compared to assess whether any notable differences in prejudice occurred and whether specific predictors of homonegativity (i.e. age of participants, gender, level of self-reported religiosity, level of education and contact with either a gay man or a lesbian woman) demonstrate the same predictive utility across all samples. The findings obtained by the current study highlight specific discrepancies in the prevalence of old-fashioned and modern homonegativity and suggest that the demographic variables assessed failed to account for comparable levels of variance across all samples. Implications of these findings, limitations of the current study and directions for future research are explored.

Keywords:

• modern homonegativity
• old-fashioned homonegativity
• cross-cultural comparison
• gay men
• lesbian women

Acknowledgement

Karen L. Blair's contribution to this study was made possible by the research funding awarded to her by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Notes

1. For all measures of homonegativity, higher scores denote higher levels of old-fashioned/modern homonegativity towards sexual minorities.

2. Targeted ‘Facebook’ advertisements refer to paid advertisements which were aimed at potential participants in the countries of interest (i.e. the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland). Advertisements would appear on prospective participants’ personal Facebook pages and individuals interested in participation were directed by the advertisement to the questionnaire homepage.

3. The survey was hosted on a secure server at Queen's University using the Checkbox Survey Solution platform (http://www.checkbox.com).

4. The Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons was used in all ANCOVA analyses. The corrected probability value for six comparisons was p < 0.008.

5. Both the MHS and the ATLG scales were measured on a 5-point Likert scale and consisted of 10 items; thus, standardisation of scores was unnecessary.

6. Levels of old-fashioned homonegativity consistently fell within five points of the scale midpoints, implying moderate levels of old-fashioned homonegativity.