Mating motives and concerns about being misidentified as gay or lesbian: implications for the avoidance and derogation of sexual minorities

Heterosexual, Lesbian, and Gay Adults' Reactions to Same-Gender versus Other-Gender Flirtation: Findings from a German Study

Using a vignette methodology, this study examined reactions to same-gender versus other-gender flirtation in a sample of 445 German young adults: 320 participants with a heterosexual orientation and 125 participants with a lesbian or gay (LG) orientation. Even in LG-friendly societies as Germany, receiving advances from someone of the same gender might still evoke heterosexuals' homonegativity. Another factor that might influence heterosexuals' reactions to same-gender flirtation is the fear of being misidentified as LG (social contagion concerns). Contrary to hypothesis, results provided little evidence to classify heterosexual participants' reactions to same-gender flirters as homonegative. Firstly, heterosexual participants showed the same degree of negative affect and avoidance behavior in the same-gender flirtation condition as LG participants did in the other-gender flirtation condition. Only positive affect scores were somewhat lower for heterosexual participants in the same-gender flirtation condition compared to LG participants in the other-gender flirtation condition. Secondly, when anti-LG attitudes and social contagion concerns were considered together, only social contagion concerns contributed to explaining variance in heterosexual participants' response to same-gender flirters. Specifically, the impact of social contagion concerns on heterosexual participants' avoidance of same-gender flirters was mediated by (lacking) positive affect, but not negative affect.

(Mis)Perceiving Sexual Intent: A Mixed-Method Approach Investigating Sexual Overperception Across Diverse Sexual Identities

Research on perceptions of sexual interest has documented the tendency for men to overperceive sexual interest (i.e., to perceive a social signal as indicating more sexual intent than the actor intended). However, this work has almost exclusively focused upon these dynamics among heterosexual individuals. Thus, the current set of studies aimed to understand how perceptions of sexual interest manifest among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) women and men. In Study 1 (N = 85), LGB women and men nominated behaviors that signal sexual intent. Using an act nomination approach, LGB women and men tended to nominate behaviors similar to those nominated by heterosexual women and men. In Study 2 (N = 43), gay men reported acts that were representative of their own and other gay men's sexual interest. Consistent with previous work-by comparing perceived self-reported versus others' sexual intent when engaging in specific behaviors-we found no evidence for a sexual overperception bias in gay men, albeit in a small field study. In Study 3 (N = 307), using a gender-by-sexual orientation design, heterosexual and LGB women and men reported previous experiences in which their friendliness was sexually misperceived. Bisexual women were less likely than other groups to report their friendliness being misinterpreted as sexual by other bisexual women and/or lesbians. Additionally, across all genders and sexual orientations, participants reported feelings of indifference, awkwardness and embarrassment when being misperceived. Ultimately, the current studies' results provide broader insight into the nature of sexual overperception among LGB populations.

Who Has a Better Auditory Gaydar? Sexual Orientation Categorization by Heterosexual and Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual People

Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people are supposed to be better at gaydar than heterosexual. Across two studies we examined auditory gaydar performed by LGB and heterosexual listeners. In Study 1 participants (n = 127) listened to male and female speakers (n = 10) and judged their sexual orientation on a binary choice (gay/lesbian vs. heterosexual). In Study 2, participants (n = 192) judged speakers' (n = 31) sexual orientation on a Kinsey-like scale (1 = exclusively heterosexual, 7 = exclusively gay/lesbian). Results showed gaydar judgments differences in relative terms that did not indicate an overall gaydar accuracy. Moreover, LGB participants were not better at gaydar than heterosexual participants but rather showed a shift in criterion when making auditory gaydar judgments, namely they report a weaker straight categorization bias. Overall, these findings contribute to the understanding of sexual orientation categorization among heterosexual majority and LGB minority groups.

Imagined and extended contact experiences and adolescent bystanders' behavioral intentions in homophobic bullying episodes

Bystanders' helping interventions in bias-based bullying are rare, although they have the potential to intervene on behalf of the victim and quickly stop the aggression. Two studies tested, experimentally, the impact of adolescents' imagined (Study 1, N = 113, M_age  = 16.17) and extended contact experiences (Study 2, N = 174, M_age  = 15.79) on assertive bystanders' behavioral intentions in the context of homophobic bullying, an under-researched but highly detrimental behavior that emerges mainly during early adolescence. Potential mediators (empathic concern, social contagion concerns, and masculinity/femininity threat) were also examined. Results showed that female younger participants revealed more behavioral intentions to help victims of homophobic bullying when asked to imagine an interaction with an outgroup member (Study 1). Younger participants revealed less masculinity/femininity threat in the positive extended contact condition, and female participants revealed less empathic concern in the negative extended contact condition (Study 2). Overall, these findings identify specific conditions (e.g., younger females) where indirect contact interventions (i.e., extended and imagined) are likely to have a stronger impact. Age and sex differences were found to illustrate how adolescents vary in their behavioral intentions, empathic concern, and threat; and also highlight the need to further examine age and sex differences regarding responses to homophobic bullying episodes.

Intersections Around Ambivalent Sexism: Internalized Homonegativity, Resistance to Heteronormativity and Other Correlates

This article explores the connections between the construct of sexism and other sociodemographic and attitudinal variables, such as internalized homonegativity and heteronormative resistances, among psychology students. Both unrefined and inferential analyses were used with a representative sample of 841 psychology students from public universities in Madrid. Results showed higher levels of sexism, internalized homonegativity and low resistances to heteronormativity among groups of men, heterosexuals and conservatives. Interactions were found that showed a higher degree of hostile sexism in: heterosexual people with respect to LGB and heterosexual men with respect to heterosexual women. Also, interactions were found to show a greater degree of heteronormative resistance in: LGB people with respect to heterosexuals and left-wing women with respect to right-wing women. Correlations with sexism varied according to gender identity and sexual orientation. In addition, heteronormative resistances correlated negatively with sexism, while some components of internalized homonegativity correlated positively. Political affiliation was the most frequent predictor of sexism. The results highlight the need for an intersectional approach to understanding the phenomenon of sexism.

Stay away or stay together? Social contagion, common identity, and bystanders’ interventions in homophobic bullying episodes

Two studies explored the link between social contagion concerns and assertive bystanders’ behavioral intentions in homophobic bullying episodes. Study 1 ( N = 216) examined if adolescents’ social contagion concerns (i.e., fear of being misclassified as gay/lesbian) relate to decreased behavioral intentions to help victims of bullying, by increasing negative attitudes towards lesbians and gay men. Study 2 ( N = 230) further explored if inclusive identity representations (i.e., one-group or dual-identity) were related to decreased concerns of social contagion, thereby increasing adolescents’ assertive behavioral intentions. Results (partially) confirmed both expected mediations: social contagion concerns were associated with decreased assertive behavioral intentions via increased negative attitudes towards lesbians and gay men (Study 1); one-group representations, but not dual-identity representations, were associated with more assertive behavioral intentions via decreased social contagion concerns (Study 2). These findings extended previous studies illustrating the underlying mechanisms through which social contagion concerns and common identity affect assertive bystanders’ behavioral intentions.

When Heterosexuality is Questioned: Stifling Suspicion Through Public Displays of Heterosexual Identity

This study examined public heterosexual identity management practices of heterosexual-identified young adults in the United States. Analysis of 415 participants' written narratives indicated that 41% (n = 169) described consciously engaging in public displays of their heterosexual status in relation to suspicion about their sexual orientation. This article describes our findings regarding five aspects of these narratives of suspicion: types of suspicion, causes of suspicion, reasons for concern about suspicion, the types of public displays of heterosexual status employed to quell suspicion, and intended audiences for these displays. Overall, the results indicated that heterosexual identity suspicion is multifaceted, this suspicion serves as a catalyst for public displays of heterosexual status, and the climate of suspicion described by our participants reflects and reinforces contemporary heterosexism.

Judged by the Company You Keep? Exposure to Nonprejudiced Norms Reduces Concerns About Being Misidentified as Gay/Lesbian

Social contagion concerns, heterosexuals’ fears about being misidentified as gay/lesbian, can lead to avoidant and hostile responses toward gay men/lesbians. We argue that apprehension about becoming the target of prejudice if misidentified as gay/lesbian contributes to contagion concerns. We hypothesized that exposing heterosexuals to others’ nonprejudiced attitudes would reduce their contagion concerns. Consistent with these predictions, perceptions of peer prejudice statistically predicted contagion concerns, over and above personal prejudice (Study 1). In addition, participants exposed to a nonprejudiced versus a high-prejudiced norm (or control condition) expressed lower contagion concerns and less anxious/avoidant responses toward gay men/lesbians (Studies 2 and 4). Finally, exposure to fellow students’ nonprejudiced views resulted in lower contagion concerns than a control group (Study 3) due to decreased concerns about becoming the target of prejudice if misidentified as gay/lesbian (Study 4). These results provide evidence that changing perceptions of others’ prejudice can reduce contagion concerns.