Attitudes towards Lesbians and Gay Men among Turkish Mental Health Providers

Year 2019, Volume: 6 Issue: 2, 149 - 168, 20.06.2019

Ezgi Tuna

https://doi.org/10.31682/ayna.425368

Cited By: 3

Abstract

Studies on attitudes towards homosexuality in Turkey have revealed that university students and
people within various occupations generally have negative attitudes. Studies exploring attitudes of
mental health workers are very scarce. Accordingly, this study explored attitudes of Turkish
psychologists and psychological counselors' toward lesbians and gay men and identified
demographic and occupational factors that are related to those attitudes. With this aim, participants
completed questions on demographic and occupational variables, and questionnaires assessing
attitudes toward homosexuality, as well as social desirability. Results showed that participants had
positive attitudes toward lesbians and gay men in general. Furthermore, their attitudes did not differ
based on gender, marital status, and education level. Age and religiosity significantly predicted more
negative attitudes towards lesbians and gay men. Results were discussed in the light of the previous
research and recommendations for working with sexual minorities were provided. Future studies
may benefit from using implicit measures to assess attitudes, and are suggested to recruit more
representative samples in terms of demographic variables.

Keywords

homosexuality, sexual orientation, attitudes, mental health, homophobia, sexual minority

Türkiye’de Ruh Sağlığı Çalışanlarının Gey ve Lezbiyenlere Yönelik Tutumları

Abstract

Eşcinsellere yönelik tutumlar üzerine yapılan çalışmalar Türkiye'de üniversite öğrencileri ve çeşitli
meslek grupları arasında cinsel azınlıklara yönelik genellikle olumsuz tutumların yaygın olduğunu
göstermektedir. Ruh sağlığı çalışanlarının tutumlarını inceleyen çalışma sayısı ise oldukça azdır. Bu
araştırma Türkiye'de hizmet veren psikolog ve psikolojik danışmanların gey ve lezbiyenlere yönelik
tutumlarını ve bu tutumları yordayan değişkenleri ele almayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu amaçla
katılımcılardan demografik ve mesleki bilgi formlarının yanı sıra eşcinsellere yönelik tutumları ve
sosyal arzu edilirlik düzeylerini ölçen ölçekleri doldurmaları istenmiştir. Elde edilen bulgulara göre,
katılımcıların eşcinsellere yönelik genel olarak olumlu tutumlara sahip olduğu bulunmuştur. Ayrıca,
cinsiyet, medeni durum ve eğitim düzeyine göre kişilerin tutumları arasında fark bulunmamıştır.
Tutumları yordayan değişkenlere bakıldığında, yaş ve dindarlık seviyesi arttıkça eşcinselliğe yönelik
olumsuz tutumların da arttığı bulunmuştur. Sonuçlar geçmiş çalışmalar ışığında tartışılmış ve cinsel
azınlıklarla çalışırken göz önünde bulundurulması gereken bazı önerilerde bulunulmuştur.
Gelecekteki çalışmaların tutumları ölçerken örtük ölçümlerden de yararlanmaları ve demografik
değişkenlerin dağılımı açısından daha kapsayıcı örneklemler kullanmaları önerilmektedir.

Keywords

eşcinsellik, cinsel yönelim, tutumlar, ruh sağlığı, homofobi, cinsel azınlık

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