Is essentialism essential? Reducing homonegative prejudice by targeting diverse sexual orientation beliefs

Author

Kevin Fry, Patrick Grzanka, Joseph Miles

Publication Year

2020

Type

Journal Article

Abstract

We conducted an experiment to assess whether targeting multiple beliefs about sexual orientation (SO) may be more effective in reducing homonegativity than focusing only on beliefs about its biogenetic origins. Participants (116 women, 85 men) were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions or a control condition. Those in the treatment conditions read essays summarizing: (1) research suggesting SO has biogenetic origins, (2) research suggesting SO is socially constructed and refuting beliefs about the discreteness, homogeneity, and informativeness of SO categories; or (3) research suggesting SO is biogenetic and research suggesting SO categories are socially constructed and not necessarily discrete, homogenous, or informative. We predicted participants in the conditions that targeted multiple beliefs related to the social construction of SO, not just its biogenetic origins, would exhibit the strongest reductions in beliefs about the discreteness, homogeneity, and informativeness of SO categories, and in homonegativity. We also predicted these participants would exhibit the greatest increases in support for gay and lesbian civil rights. We observed hypothesized shifts in SO beliefs across all experimental conditions. While there was a small main effect of time on homonegative prejudice, there was no main effect of condition and no changes in support for gay and lesbian civil rights. However, post hoc analyses suggested the two conditions addressing social constructionist beliefs accounted for most of the observed prejudice reduction. Implications for more comprehensive educational and social interventions designed to promote social justice for sexual minorities are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Keywords

Sexual orientation, essentialism, Lay beliefs, Social constructionism, Heterosexism, Constructivism, Homosexuality (Attitudes Toward), lesbianism, prejudice, Civil Rights, social justice, Sexual Minority Groups

Journal

Arch. Sex. Behav.

Volume

Pages

1725–1739

Date Published

07/2020

The following is an excerpt of the intervention methodology. For more information, please see the full text of the article on the publisher's website or through your institution's library.

Measures and Procedure
Research Essays
The authors wrote three essays summarizing research related to different lay beliefs about SO. Each essay was 800–850 words in length and written for a non-expert audience. Following each essay (see Online Appendix), participants completed a comprehension check by answering three multiple-choice questions on the content of their essay and could look back at the essay if they needed to. The questions were designed to target participants’ understanding of major arguments and themes in the essay (e.g., “The essay argues ___”; “Which of the following is NOT a claim that this essay makes?”).

The essay for the “Born This Way” condition summarized current scientific research suggesting SO is biogenetic (i.e., its origins lie in the human genetic code) and is otherwise shaped in utero. This essay presented research on genes/heredity, endocrinology, and the brain/anatomy as its evidence. This condition was designed to reflect naturalness ideas regarding the origins of same-sex desire that are dominant in social justice advocacy and educational programming about gay and lesbian rights (Osmundson, 2011) and promote a strictly essentialist argument.

The essay for the Social Constructionism condition summarized current scientific research that suggests that SO categories are not as discrete as we might ordinarily believe, members of SO categories are tremendously heterogeneous, and knowing a person’s SO tells one relatively little about who that person is. This essay omitted any reference to the naturalness of SO. This condition was designed to refute beliefs about the discreteness, homogeneity, and informativeness of sexual orientation and promote a strictly social constructionist argument.

The essay for the Hybrid Essentialism condition combined the main arguments from the essays from the Born This Way and Social Constructionism conditions, but condensed these arguments to keep them the same length as the other essays. This condition was designed to reflect both essentialist and social constructionist beliefs.

Measures

Sexual Orientation Beliefs Scale (SOBS)

Modern Homonegativity Scale: Gay Men (MHS-G)

Support for Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights Scale (SGLCR)

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale for Heterosexuals (LGB-KASH)

Feeling Thermometer

Type of Prejudice/Bias

Country

Method

Setting