The relationship of homophobia to intimacy in heterosexual men

Interpersonal intimacy is more difficult to achieve for American men than women. Research has shown that men disclose less, have fewer close friendships, and are viewed by their wives as low in intimacy. Among the barriers to intimacy among men, Tognoli (1980) suggested that homophobia is the most powerful. The present study tested this idea by asking men to disclose a personal secret to either a male confidant, a female confidante, or by writing the secret. It was expected that the presence of a male confidant would stimulate homophobic feelings and inhibit disclosure, while the other two conditions would result in more personal disclosure. A correlation between intimacy of disclosure and level of homophobia was also expected. Subjects were 75 heterosexual men, 31 to 50 years of age, randomly assigned to one of the three conditions. They also completed the Miller Social Intimacy Scale, the Jourard Self-Disclosure Questionnaire, the Index of Homophobia, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Results showed that homophobia was inversely related to level of social intimacy. There was some indication that homophobia does relate to less intimate disclosure to other males. Thus this study found some support for the idea that homophobia is an obstacle to intimacy for men.