Does exposure to continuous and fluid theories of sexual orientation influence heterosexuals’ evaluations toward bisexual or gay/lesbian people?

Le résumé fourni par la source

Scientific research suggests that sexual orientation is continuous in nature and can be fluid over time. Relatively little is known about how greater mainstream acceptance of such accounts of sexual orientation may influence lay people’s attitudes toward gay/lesbian and bisexual individuals. Two studies (N1 = 180; N2 = 460) examined whether attitudes towards sexual minority groups could be influenced by intentional exposure to these differing accounts of sexual orientation. Specifically, sexual orientation was presented as either existing in discrete categories versus along a continuum, or as stable versus fluid over time. Sequential linear regression models were used to examine whether exposure to discrete, continuous, fluid, or stable accounts influenced heterosexual participants’ affective responses towards gay, lesbian, or bisexual men and women. Political orientation and gender were evaluated as potential moderators of possible exposure effects. Whereas significant effects were not observed in the pilot study (among university students), heterosexual individuals in Study 2 (based on a community sample) evaluate each of these sexual minority groups, except gay men more positively after reading the continuous account, compared to control. Additional simple slopes analyses revealed male participants in the continuous condition were markedly warmer towards bisexual men, relative to male participants in the control. Findings suggest that presenting sexual orientation as continuous to heterosexual audiences is beneficial to improving perceptions of lesbian and bisexual people.

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