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from What do clinical studies say?
Tradition-Based Convictions
Are Not "Homophobia," Say Recent
Peer-Reviewed Research Papers
Recent Studies Examine the Validity of Homophobia Scales
July 18, 2007 - NARTH Scientific Advisory Committee member Christopher Rosik, Ph.D., has published several studies on homophobia scales, religious belief, and ideological assumptions dealing with homosexuality. These studies should be available on EBSCO, a subscription-based database of journals.
Abstracts and a concluding summary from the final articles are provided below.
Rosik, C. H., Griffith, L. K., & Cruz, Z. (2007). Homophobia and conservative religion: Toward a more nuanced understanding. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Vol 77(1), Jan 2007. pp. 10-19
The failure of homophobia scales to consider the normative assumptions of religious communities may result in findings that are less useful in addressing this problem. In this study, 155 undergraduate students at a Christian university were surveyed, separately assessing attitudes toward celibate versus sexually active homosexual men and women. Results of multiple regression analyses found that participants who emphasized a person-behavior distinction (an accepted tenet of conservative religious ideology) held more negative attitudes toward lesbian women than those who were comparatively more accepting and did not emphasize such a distinction. However, participants who emphasized the person-behavior distinction held more positive attitudes toward gay men than those who were comparatively more rejecting and did not emphasize such a distinction. These relationships were significant even after accounting for variance attributable to general measures of religious commitment. Attempts to reduce homophobia within conservative religious communities may benefit from a more sensitive approach to their belief systems.
Rosik, C. H. (2007). Idological concerns in the operationalization of homophobia, Part I: An analysis of Herek's ATLG-R scale. Journal of Psychology & Theology, Vol. 35 Issue 2, p. 132-144.
Utilizing Watson's Ideological Surround Model (Watson, et al., 2003) as a backdrop, the present study examined the structural properties of Herek's (1998) Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale (ATLG-R) for a sample of 155 conservative Christian students. Ideological perceptions of the ATLG-R items were derived from a smaller (N = 36) sample of students similar in demographic make up and religious devotion. Factor analytic and ideological surround analyses indicated that the ATLG-R was disproportionately comprised of items perceived to be antireligious, with the primary 'Condemnation-Tolerance' component consisting exclusively of such items, the majority of which related directly to respondents' beliefs about the morality and naturalness of homosexuality. Furthermore, respondents' degree of self-identification as Christian, when factor analyzed as an additional item in the ATLG-R, loaded singularly and to a greater degree than over half of the items on the 'Condemnation-Tolerance' component. Potential implications of these findings are discussed.
Rosik, C. H. (2007). Ideological concerns in the operationalization of homophobia, Part II: The need for interpretive sensitivity with religiously conservative persons. Journal of Psychology & Theology, Vo. 35, Issue 2, p. 145-152.
Building on the first article in this series (Rosik, 2007), the present study provided empirical analyses to determine the degree to which the relationship between conservative religion and homophobia as defined by Herek's (1998) Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale (ATLG-R) was dependent upon items experienced as antireligious by Christian students. Three multiple regression analyses revealed that the associations between homonegative attitudes and respondents' intrinsic religiousness, religious practice, and beliefs about the authority of the Bible were predicted only by the 'Condemnation-Tolerance' component after accounting for gender, age and the remaining components of the ATLG-R. These findings suggest the possibility of an ideologically based circularity in the relationship between conservative religion and the construct of homophobia as measured by the ATLG-R. Thus, for these respondents the ATLG-R may function as an empirically packaged method of disparaging their religiously-based values concerning homosexuality. It is requisite that mental health professionals cultivate greater sensitivity to such concerns.
Summary Conclusions
This study and its predecessor (Rosik, 2007) have illustrated the potential influence of divergent ideological surrounds when examining the relationship of homophobia and conservative religion. Item-level, factor analytic, ideological and multiple regression analyses conducted on devout Christian students suggests that the ATLG-R may evidence ideological insensitivity on a number of levels. It appears that this instrument 1) is constructed with a majority of items that are perceived to be antireligious, i.e., that negatively reference the normative value assumptions of conservative religion as regards same sex behavior, 2) relies heavily on these items to define the relationship between religious behaviors/beliefs and homophobia, as evident in the antireligious nature of all items contained in the "Condemnation-Tolerance" component, and 3) in so doing conceals the likelihood that some respondents exhibit a degree of tolerance along with strong moral disapproval regarding homosexual behavior (Rosik, Griffith, & Cruz, 2007). In addition, the findings raise some question as to whether previous differences found in heterosexuals' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men reflect greater homophobia directed at gay men or simply differences in the way religious and cultural conservatives ideologically experience the ATL and ATG items.
There are certainly elements within religious conservatism that have treated the difficult circumstances faced by lesbians and gay men without proper compassion and in doing so brought disgrace to their faith. However, it is not at all clear that these excesses should best be remedied by engraving in conceptual stone an ideological position that deprecates by definition traditional religious beliefs about sexual morality and the natural order. Such issues deserve to be discussed openly and on their own terms within the field of psychology, thereby promoting rather than inhibiting the expression of diverse perspectives. In the search for workable solutions to the clinical and social dilemmas over homosexuality that respect the beliefs of both religious conservatives and gay men and lesbians, the discipline of psychology will need to exercise heightened circumspection and restraint in the use of the language of homophobia as presently defined.
Additional Reading:
Clinical And Theoretical Parallels Between Desire For Limb Amputation And Gender Identity Disorder;
Study Supports the "Weak Father" Theory of Homosexuality;
Negotiated Non-monogamy and Male Couples;
Treating Infidelity In Same-Sex Couples;
Thoughts on the Ordination of Sexually Active Gay Men and Lesbians.
Updated: 8 February 2008
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