Researcher finds that people who are easily disgusted are more likely to be anti-gay

[Behind the Aegis]

People are more likely to feel prejudiced against gay and lesbian people if they’re more sensitive to disgust, says a new cross-cultural study published in the journal Group Processes & Intergroup Relations.

The study’s lead researcher — Florian van Leeuwen, an assistant psychology professor at Tilburg University in the Netherlands — wondered why heterosexual men would benefit from having anti-gay attitudes. After all, gay men don’t compete against straight men for romantic or sexual partners, so hostile attitudes towards them would seem to have little social or personal benefit.

van Leeuwen was familiar with studies showing that North Americans who have stronger disgust sensitivities tend to feel more prejudiced against gay and lesbian people. So he wanted to see if the same held true for others internationally.

He looked at the results of surveys conducted on 11,200 heterosexual adults from 31 countries. The surveys asked people to indicate how disgusted they felt by various activities that could result in an infection, such as accidentally touching a person’s bleeding cut. The surveys also asked people about their feelings towards gay and lesbian people with questions like “Should homosexuals have the exact same marriage rights as heterosexuals?” and “Should society accept homosexuality?”

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Oh noes! Now how will our "allies" blame us for homophobia?! The popular myth of "homophobes are secretly homos themselves" is seriously challenged by a study like this. While it is true there are more than a few homophobes who are harboring a huge amount of self-hatred causing them to act like homophobic assholes, I have always maintained most homophobes are nothing more than those who are "disgusted by" or "uncomfortable with" gay people. Think about it; are most racists that way because of a "secret desire" to be another race? Are most anti-Semites that way because they secretly desire to be Jews? Are most transphobes secretly trans themselves? Are most classists (against poor), that way because they secretly desire to be poor? No? Then, why is it when someone comes out as a rank and rabid homophobe the person is automatically assumed to be queer?! Oh, and have you also noticed this is almost exclusively applied to homophobic men and not homophobic women?

Are some homophobes dealing with self-hate? Yup! But, when those people are held up as the norm, not the exceptions they are, then the problem of homophobia is cast back upon queer people as something we do to ourselves; it isn't. Homophobia is an external issue brought down on us from a majority who are not queer!

[Joinfortmill]

1. Huh? Sounds a bit shaky to me.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Huh? What does?

[Walleye]

2. They should be disgusted by looking in the mirror

[walkingman]

3. I'll never understand why anyone would be concerned about another person's sex life?? Odd?

[vercetti2021]

5. Yeah

I thought the more bigoted someone acted. The higher possibility they were in the closet themselves

[Behind the Aegis]

6. But would that apply to racism? transphobia? anti-Semitism?

I think many think the way you do because of a few prominent examples and two shitty, very small studies. I know sometimes I still think that way and catch myself. Of course, it doesn't mean that some homophobes aren't projecting their own insecurities, however, I still believe they are the exception, not the rule. We just have to unlearn the behavior of automatically assuming homophobes are secretly queer.

[Sandy Becker]

7. Are the "more easily disgusted" moiety also ...

Are they also more likely to be racist, xenophobic, etc etc?

The study only addresses homophobia, but I expect it's part of a larger complex of disgusted by not-like-self.

I'm gay and I'm pretty sure I've noticed this. Admittedly anecdotal only.