Immediate effects of written material on attitudes toward homosexuality

This study examined whether attitudes toward homosexuals were affected by educational material containing information about the biological determinants of sexual orientation. This study utilized a normed two-alternative inventory on which participants were asked to rate matched items on a 5-point scale. In the first session participants completed one version involving interactions with homosexual individuals. One week later, participants, randomly assigned to one of three groups, filled out the matched alternative form after reading a summary that presented either a biological or environmental basis for homosexuality or an unrelated article. Analysis confirmed previous research that the 40 men had more negative attitudes toward homosexuals than the 40 women but that different types of explanations for homosexuality had no over-all influence on attitudes. More importantly, an item analysis extended our previous understanding of sex differences in that physical proximity to the homosexual individual was the strongest factor associated with attitude change.