WITH US OR AGAINST US: USING RELIGIOSITY AND SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES TO PREDICT HOMOPHOBIC BELIEFS

Abstract

Affiliation with religious organizations is prevalent in the United States and within some of these organizations negative messages about lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals are regularly espoused. Exposure to such homophobic sentiment has been found to have a detrimental impact on the mental health of sexual minorities and thereby, makes the exploration of religiosity and homophobia an imperative. This study examined differences in homophobia among the sociodemographic variables of gender, age, education level, religious affiliation, frequency of attendance at religious services, and amount of contact with lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. Additionally, a stepwise multiple regression was conducted to determine which religiosity variables were the best predictors of homophobia. The religiosity variables used in the study were Religious Fundamentalism, Quest, Immanence, as well as Intrinsic and Extrinsic religious orientations. Significant differences in homophobia were found for gender, age, religious affiliation, frequency of attendance at religious services, and number of known lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals. Religious Fundamentalism and Intrinsic religious orientation were found to be the best predictors of homophobia.