Journal
PSYCHOLOGY & SEXUALITY
Volume 13, Issue 4, Pages 1010-1025Publisher
ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/19419899.2021.1978528
Keywords
LGB; stigma; perceptions; labels; attitudes
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Research indicates that openly disclosing one's sexual identity, either explicitly or implicitly, in a liberal university setting, may enhance positive perceptions of LGB individuals by others, particularly in positive traits, with minimal impact on negative traits.
Labelling oneself as a sexual minority and sharing that identity with others often represents a significant and intentional process for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals, as most individuals are assumed to be heterosexual. However, little previous research has explored the effects of sexual identity labels on perceptions of LGB individuals. Undergraduate students from a large public university (N = 661) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: explicit labels (e.g. John is gay), implicit labels (e.g. John is attracted to men), or no labels (e.g. John works at a pizza place). Participants in each condition read short vignettes describing characters that were assigned explicit labels, implicit labels, or no labels. After reading each vignette, they rated characters on 19 traits, including negative, positive, and control traits. Explicit and implicit labels generally increased ratings on positive traits (e.g. 'proud', 'resilient', and 'fun') in comparison to control characters with no sexual identity labels. In contrast, there were few effects of the label manipulation on ratings of negative traits (e.g. 'attention-seeking', 'unreliable', and 'immoral'). These results suggest that in some contexts (liberal university), openly disclosing one's sexual identity explicitly or implicitly may enhance positive perceptions from others.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available