A comparative study of attitudes toward homosexuality: 1986 and 1991

This article describes changes in attitudes toward homosexuality using 1986 and 1991 samples drawn from the same population. It was found that men expressed significantly greater negative attitudes toward homosexuality than did women; participants in the 1986 assessment expressed more anti-homosexuality attitudes than did participants in 1991; and rural respondents expressed more negative attitudes than did participants sampled on a college campus. Greatest attitudinal change occurred in students over age 25 and non-students 40 and over. Plausible explanations for the favorable attitudinal change over the five-year period are explored.