The effect of a biological explanation on attitudes towards homosexual persons. A Swedish national sample study

Studies assessing attitudes towards homosexuals have revealed widespread homophobia. The first aim of this study was to assess potential changes in public attitudes after important legislative changes related to homosexuals in Sweden. The second aim was to test whether the attitudes differ: 1) between people who believe in biological vs. people who believe in psychological theories in explanation of homosexuality, 2) between men and women, and 3) between the older and younger age groups. To this end, a questionnaire survey of a representative, randomly selected, national sample of 992 adult Swedish residents was carried out. The response rate was 67%, which is considered high in this context. In conclusion, this study demonstrates a clear-cut change towards more tolerant attitudes towards homosexual men and women compared to earlier studies. The reasons for this change is discussed; among factors of importance are anti-discrimination legislation, increased visibility of homosexual people, and that more people currently regard homosexuality as a biologically determined, natural variant of human sexuality than was the case 10 years ago. In accordance, this study gave further support to the notion that those who believe that homosexuality is caused by biological factors have a less restrictive view on homosexuality than do people who hold a psychological view.