College Students' Views on Gay and Lesbian Issues

Abstract

Many in academia believe that higher education leads to an increase in tolerance towards individuals who are different. There are some empirical findings to supportthis premise; however, the impact of higher education on acceptance of homosexuality hasnot been adequately explored. Gays and lesbians in society face many negative attitudes.Based upon the survey results of 364 students at a Midwestern university, juniors and seniors had statistically significant more positive attitudes towards gays and lesbians thandid freshmen and sophomores. Even in multi-variate analysis, upper-level students had more positive views on many of the attitudinal measures.

Key Words:

• Attitudes towards gay and lesbian persons
• willingness to extend civil rights to gay and lesbian persons
• willingness to socialize with gay and lesbian persons
• attitudes of college students