Investigating the Moderating Role of Positive Intergroup Contact on the Association between Authoritarianism and Homophobia among Heterosexual Young Adults

Abstract

Authoritarian personality traits are associated with compliance and obedience to prevailing social norms and values. In contexts where the political climate fuels homophobia, people with authoritarian personality traits display more homophobic attitudes and behaviors. On the other hand, positive intergroup contact can reduce problems between groups. This positive intergroup contact, which emphasizes similarities by weakening baseless information about the outgroup, has long been used to reduce intergroup conflicts. In a heterosexual sample, whether positive intergroup contact will have a moderating role in the relationship between authoritarianism and homophobia is an open question. To answer this question, 241 young adults (Mage = 22.0, SD = 2.04; 59.3% female, 40.7% male) from 47 different cities of Türkiye were reached. Participants completed the right-wing authoritarianism scale, the social contact form with sexual minorities, and the Hudson & Ricketts homophobia scale. In parallel with the hypotheses, the findings show that authoritarian personality score positively predicted homophobia (β = .49, SE = .05, z = 10.07, p < .001), while positive intergroup contact negatively predicted homophobia (β = -.66, SE = .08, z = -8.67, p < .001). However, contrary to the hypothesis, no moderating role of positive intergroup contact in the association between authoritarianism and homophobia was observed (β = -.03, SE = .05, z = -.53 p = .593). Simple slope analyzes showed that authoritarianism positively predicted homophobia at both high and low levels of positive intergroup contact. The findings are discussed in the context of intergroup contact theory.

Keywords

• Authoritarianism
• Homophobia
• Intergroup Contact
• LGBT
• Young Adults

Heteroseksüel Genç Yetişkinler Arasında Otoriterlik ve Homofobi Arasındaki İlişkide Gruplar Arası Pozitif Temasın Düzenleyici Rolünün İncelenmesi

Abstract

Yetkeci kişilik özellikleri hâkim toplumsal norm ve değerlere uyum ve itaat ile ilişkilidir. Politik iklimin homofobiyi körüklediği bağlamlarda yetkeci kişilik özelliği taşıyan kişiler daha fazla homofobik tutum ve davranış sergiler. Öte yandan olumlu gruplar arası temas, gruplar arasındaki problemleri azaltabilir. Dış gruba yönelik temelsiz bilgileri zayıflatarak benzerlikleri vurgulayan olumlu sosyal temas, uzun süredir gruplar arası çatışmaları azaltmak için kullanılmaktadır. Heteroseksüel bir örneklemde, yetkeciliğin homofobi ile ilişkisinde gruplar arası olumlu temasın düzenleyici bir rolünün olup olmayacağı ise cevap bekleyen bir sorudur. Bu soruyu yanıtlamak için bu araştırmada Türkiye'nin 47 farklı şehrinden 241 genç yetişkine (Ortyaş = 22.0, SS. = 2.04; %59.3 kadın, %40.7 erkek) erişilmiştir. Katılımcılar sağ kanat yetkeciliği ölçeği, cinsel azınlıklarla sosyal temas formu ve Hudson ve Ricketts homofobi ölçeğini doldurmuşlardır. Hipotezler ile paralel olarak bulgular otoriteryen kişilik puanının homofobiyi pozitif yönde (β = .49, SH. = .05, z = 10.07, p < .001), olumlu gruplar arası temasın ise homofobiyi negatif yönde (β = - .66, SH. = .08, z = -8.67, p < .001) yordadığı görülmüştür. Ancak hipotezin aksine, olumlu gruplar arası temasın yetkecilik ve homofobi arasındaki ilişkide düzenleyici bir rolü gözlenmemiştir (β = -.03, SH = .05, z = -.53 p = .593). Basit eğim analizleri hem yüksek hem de düşük olumlu gruplar arası temas düzeyinde yetkeciliğin homofobiyi pozitif yönde yordadığını göstermiştir. Bulgular, gruplar arası temas kuramı bağlamında tartışılmıştır.

Keywords

• Oteriterlik
• Homofobi
• Gruplar Arası Temas
• LGBT
• Genç Yetişkinler

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