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Identifying With a Stereotype: The Divergent Effects of Exposure to Homosexual Television Characters
Bryan McLaughlin1, Nathian S Rodriguez2
1a College of Media and Communication , Texas Tech University , Lubbock , Texas , USA.
Abstract:
Scholars examining homosexual television characters have typically come to one of two conclusions: either exposure to homosexual characters can lead to increased acceptance, or homosexual characters serve to reaffirm negative stereotypes. We seek to bridge these two bodies of research by introducing the concept of stereotyped identification-the idea that cognitively and emotionally identifying with fictional characters can increase acceptance of minorities, while reinforcing implicit stereotypes about how they look, act, and talk. Results from our national survey (N = 972) offer support for this hypothesis.
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