Human Values and Manifest and Subtle Homophobic Attitudes

This study aimed to know to what extent human values are correlated with flagrant and subtle homophobia. The participants were 174 undergraduate students, with ages ranging from 17 to 56 years of age (M = 22.3, SD = 4.60), most of them female (57.6%). They answered the Explicit and Implicit Homophobia Scale, the Basic Values Survey and demographic questions. Multiple regressions were performed, indicating the predictive power of normative and promotion values for explaining subtle and general homophobia, whereas only normative values explained the flagrant homophobia. These constructs were responsible for accounting for approximately 10% of the variance in homophobic attitudes. In conclusion, values can be good predictors of homophobia, especially materialist values, enhancing the adequacy of the functional theory of values to explain socially deviant attitudes.

Keywords:
homophobia; prejudice; homosexuality; values