Lytle Ashley, Dyar Christina, Levy Sheri R, London Bonita
Stony Brook University, New York, USA.
Br J Soc Psychol. 2017 Mar;56(1):64-88. doi: 10.1111/bjso.12154. Epub 2016 Sep 11.
Sexual prejudice remains a widespread problem worldwide. Past research demonstrates that cross-orientation contact (contact between heterosexuals and lesbian/gay individuals) reduces sexual prejudice among heterosexuals, especially when contact is high quality. This study extends the literature on the relationship between cross-orientation contact and sexual prejudice and the mediation of this relationship by intergroup anxiety by examining the role of a key ideology - essentialist beliefs about homosexuality (immutability, universality, and discreteness beliefs). Findings indicate that the mediation of the relationship between cross-orientation contact and sexual prejudice by intergroup anxiety differs by level of essentialist beliefs. Additionally, the relationship between cross-orientation contact and sexual prejudice appears to be mediated by essentialist beliefs as well as intergroup anxiety. These results suggest that individuals who endorse essentialist beliefs commonly associated with increased bias (high discreteness and low immutability and universality beliefs) may benefit the most from cross-orientation contact and resultant decreases in intergroup anxiety. Further, decreasing essentialist beliefs generally associated with increased bias may be a mechanism through which cross-orientation contact reduces sexual prejudice. Implications and future directions are discussed.
性偏见在全球范围内仍然是一个普遍存在的问题。过去的研究表明，跨性取向接触（异性恋者与女同性恋/男同性恋者之间的接触）会减少异性恋者中的性偏见，尤其是当接触质量较高时。本研究通过考察一种关键意识形态——关于同性恋的本质主义信念（不变性、普遍性和离散性信念）的作用，扩展了关于跨性取向接触与性偏见之间关系以及群体间焦虑对这种关系的中介作用的文献。研究结果表明，群体间焦虑对跨性取向接触与性偏见之间关系的中介作用因本质主义信念水平而异。此外，跨性取向接触与性偏见之间的关系似乎也由本质主义信念以及群体间焦虑所中介。这些结果表明，认同通常与偏见增加相关的本质主义信念（高离散性以及低不变性和普遍性信念）的个体可能从跨性取向接触以及由此导致的群体间焦虑减少中获益最多。此外，减少通常与偏见增加相关的本质主义信念可能是跨性取向接触减少性偏见的一种机制。本文还讨论了研究的意义和未来方向。
