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This empirical study examines sixteen- to seventeen-year-old heterosexual male cross-country athletes from a diverse, middle-class high school in California and how they express physical tactility and emotional intimacy in a culture of diminished homohysteria. Using participative and non-participative observations of the team, coupled with ten in-depth interviews, we find acceptance of gay men, and note a range of homosocial behaviors including bed-sharing, cuddling, hand holding, hugging, and emotional intimacy. We discuss the ways in which heterosexual boundaries and identities are maintained, and the process by which normalizing heterosexuality as the assumed sexual orientation contributes to heterosexism. Despite the reproduction of heterosexism, the relationships these high school athletes form with each other are not predicated on homophobia or hypermasculinity. Finally, we discuss adolescent expressions of masculinity in the transition to manhood and in the face of diminishing homohysteria. KEYWORDS adolescence, athletics, high school, homohysteria, inclusive masculinity theory, tactility, Traditionally, research on masculinities of high school students described homophobia as the primary mechanism by which boys' gender was policed toward hypermasculinity (Frosh et al. 2001; Plummer 1999; Thurlow 2001). [...]

Evidence suggests that gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM) score higher than heterosexual-identifying men on disordered eating symptomology (DES). This exploratory study examined if the [...]

This study used a correlational design with a sample of university students to clarify the relationships between attitude functions and homonegativity with respect to gender. Classic work on attitude functions posits that attitudes serve psychological needs for the attitude holder. Herek (1986b) adapted this theory to explain attitudes toward homosexuality. Herek (1987) identified four functions: ego-defensive (defense of threats to the self), value-expressive (expression of key values), social-expressive (expression of important social norms), and experiential (based on past experiences). Results suggested that men were more likely to attribute their attitudes to the ego-defensive function. Men and women were equally likely to attribute their attitudes to the experiential function. The ego-defensive function was the best predictor of homonegativity for men and women, whether they held generally positive or generally negative attitudes toward homosexuality. The experiential function did not predict homonegativity. Participants tended to be neither very homonegative nor very ego-defensive. KEYWORDS attitude functions, homonegativity, homophobia, gender differences, ego-defensiveness DOI: 10.1080/00918369.2010.517074

Byline: Jose A. Bauermeister (1), Michelle Marie Johns (1), Theo G. M. Sandfort (2), Anna Eisenberg (1), Arnold H. Grossman (3), Anthony R. D'Augelli (4) Keywords: Dating; Sexual minority; Gay, lesbian and bisexual; Mental health; Adolescence; Sexuality Abstract: Dating in adolescence plays an integral part in the development of sexual and social identities. This process is particularly salient for sexual minority youth who face additional obstacles to their identity formation due to their marginalized status. We investigated the influence of participating in a same-sex relationship (SSR) or an opposite-sex relationship (OSR) on sexual minority youths' psychological well-being (i.e., symptoms of depression, anxiety and internalized homophobia, and self-esteem) in an ethnically-diverse sample of 350 youth (55% male) between the ages of 15--19 years, recruited from three GLBT drop-in centers in the New York City area. Using longitudinal data, we examined youths' SSR and OSR over time. Multivariate regression analyses suggest that involvement in a SSR was positively associated with changes in self-esteem in males, and negatively correlated with changes in internalized homophobia in females. We discuss the implications for positive development in sexual minority adolescent populations. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, SPH I, Room 3822, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2029, USA (2) HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, New York, NY, USA (3) Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA (4) Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA Article History: Registration Date: 29/05/2010 Received Date: 06/04/2010 Accepted Date: 28/05/2010 Online Date: 10/06/2010

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2006.05.006 Byline: Sari D. Gold, Brian P. Marx, Jennifer M. Lexington Keywords: Experiential avoidance; Gay; Internalized homophobia; Sexual assault; Posttraumatic stress; Depression Abstract: This study explored the relations among internalized homophobia (IH), experiential avoidance, and psychological symptom severity in a community sample of 74 gay male sexual assault survivors. Results indicated that IH is associated with both depressive and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity. IH accounted for more variance than assault severity in predicting both PTSD and depression symptom severity. IH and experiential avoidance similarly predicted PTSD symptom severity. In comparison with IH, however, experiential avoidance is a stronger predictor of depression symptom severity. Results also showed that experiential avoidance partially mediated the relation between IH and both depressive and PTSD symptom severity. The implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided. Author Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, Weiss Hall, Philadelphia PA 19122, USA Article History: Received 25 January 2006; Revised 2 May 2006; Accepted 9 May 2006

The social adjustment attitude function that drives homophobia and homophobic communication in fraternities is examined. The results show that attitudes towards homosexual fraternity members and participants' negative communication regarding gays was mediated by members' hetero-identity concern, whereas, attitudes were directly related to perceptions of others' communication.

This study was designed to examine the relations among dimensions of feminism and internalized heterosexism in 227 lesbian and bisexual women. In addition, psychometric support for 2 newly created multiple-item scales. Self-Identification as a Feminist (SIF) and Involvement in Feminist Activities Scale (IFAS), is provided. Results indicate that internalized heterosexism is correlated significantly with most of the feminist dimensions assessed in this study (i.e., self-identification as a feminist, involvement in feminist activities, attitudes toward feminism, feminist identity development, and various feminist ideologies). Interesting relations among feminist identity development and feminist ideologies were found. In addition, involvement in feminist activities was uniquely predicted by self-identification as a feminist and the Embeddedness-Emanation and Active Commitment dimensions of feminist identity development. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. KEY WORDS: lesbian; internalized homophobia; feminist identity.

When lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people encounter antigay campaigns and elections, they face explicit and implicit homophobic attacks. In order to understand the points of stress and the bases for resilience in the face of these attacks, we developed a 130-item quantitative survey on the basis of results of an earlier qualitative study. Three hundred, sixteen Colorado LGB people endorsed items representing sources of stress and sources of resilience associated with the campaign for and passage of an antigay referendum. Factor analyses of the results suggested 5 sources of stressors and 5 sources of resilience for LGB persons and their communities. KEY WORDS: gay; gay and lesbian; antigay election; homophobia; stressor factors; resilience factors.

Heterosexism is defined as a setting-level process that systematically privileges heterosexuality relative to homosexuality, based on the assumption that heterosexuality, as well as heterosexual power and privilege are the norm and the ideal. The many ways heterosexism is manifest in the physical-architectural, program-policy, suprapersonal, and social features of high schools are described followed by a proposal for a comprehensive assessment strategy. Strategies used in previous research are reviewed in terms of what is assessed, how it is assessed, and how it is analyzed. The author advocates for more comprehensive assessments and for school-level analyses to enable comparisons between schools, facilitate research on the effects of heterosexism, and provide a basis for evaluating interventions. Additional issues include reliability and validity, links between heterosexism and other forms of oppression, heterosexism in other contexts or at other levels, and implications for theory and practice in community psychology. KEY WORDS: heterosexism; ecological assessment; high school; setting-level; cross-level research.

Racism, sexism, and homophobia do not fit into any current diagnostic category. The authors propose that those who engage in such behaviors display a form of psychopathology deserving of its own category. The common denominator seems to be intolerance. The authors explore the possibility of an intolerant personality disorder, outline likely symptoms, and suggest some possible treatment considerations.

Psychological distress, crime features, and help-seeking behaviors of homophobic bias incidents were explored using a convenience sample of 290 lesbian, gay, and bisexual participants. A majority of the sample (73%) indicated they had been the target of at least one homophobic incident. Participants provided a detailed account of their most serious incident of homophobic victimization. Victims of homophobic sexual assaults reported significantly more posttraumatic stress symptoms than victims of bias threats, victims of other bias acts, or nonvictims. Bias sexual assaults' also were more likely to involve a known perpetrator multiple perpetrators, and previous bias incidents. Bias physical assault victims more often had a history of at least one incident of nonbias violence. Sexual and physical assault victims were more likely to report the incident and to seek other types of help. The results indicate that certain crime types and features result in more psychological distress for bias victims.

Traditionally, within the field of mental health, all forms of homosexuality have been viewed as pathological. This belief system reflects the larger societal attitude of heterosexism. According to Herek (1986), [...]

Using interview data from a convenience sample of 450 lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults, the varieties of victim experiences in hate crimes based on sexual orientation are described. Most crimes were perpetrated in public settings by one or more strangers, but victimization also occurred in other locales, and perpetrators included neighbors, coworkers, and relatives. In deciding whether a crime was based on their sexual orientation, victims tended to rely primarily on contextual cues and perpetrators' explicit statements. Victims' concerns about police bias and public disclosure of their sexual orientation were important factors in deciding whether to report antigay crimes, as were beliefs about the crime's severity and the likelihood that perpetrators would be punished.

Eighty-six behaviourally homosexual men, at various stages of homosexual identity formation (HIF), were participants in a study that examined correlates of internalized homophobia (IH) and HIF. Results indicated higher levels of internalized homophobia were correlated with lower stages of HIF. In addition, internalized homophobia was significantly related to lower levels of self-esteem, to lower levels of self-concepts of physical appearance and emotional stability, and to higher levels of sex guilt. Post hoc regression analysis revealed that perceived level of repression against homosexuals predicted intemalized homophobia and sex-guilt, which were mediator variables to the resolution of HIF. This research supports theory, that suggests internalized homophobia is a major developmental difficulty in gay men. KEYWORDS. Homosexuality, internalized homophobia, homosexual identity formation, self-esteem, sex guilt, self-concept, sexual orientation, gay identity development, sexual identity

This paper describes the psychometric properties of the Modern Homonegativity Scale (MHS), which measures contemporary negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians (i.e., attitudes not based on traditional or moral objections to homosexuality). In Study 1 (N = 353), a preliminary version of the MHS was developed, and its psychometric properties were examined. Participants in Studies 2 and 3 (Ns = 308 and 233, respectively) completed the MHS and other attitudinal measures. The relationships among these variables were investigated to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the scale's construct validity. In Study 4 (N = 36), a behavioural expression of modern homonegativity was examined using the attributional ambiguity paradigm. The results of these studies indicate that the MHS is unidimensional, possesses a high degree of internal consistency, and is factorially distinct from a measure of old-fashioned homonegativity. As hypothesized, scores on the MHS correlated positively with political conservatism, religious behaviour, religious self-schema and modern sexism, but did not correlate significantly with social desirability bias. In addition, the MHS appears to be less susceptible to floor effects than a commonly used measure of old-fashioned homonegativity. Finally, the experimental study revealed that participants obtaining high scores on the MHS were less likely to sit beside individuals wearing T-shirts with pro-gay or pro-lesbian slogans when they could justify their seating choice on nonprejudicial grounds. KEYWORDS. Attitudes, prejudice, discrimination, homophobia, homosexuality, gay men, lesbians, college students, modern prejudice, scale development

Heterosexual participants who were very low, moderately low, moderately high and very high in prejudice toward gay men reported their personal standards for responding to gay men (i.e., how they believed they should feel or think in an imagined scenario involving a gay man) via computer. As expected, the standards of very low-prejudice individuals were the least prejudiced, the most internalized (i.e., most important and central to the self), and the most accessible (i.e., reported most quickly). Regression analyses revealed the predicted relation between accessibility and internalization, such that the more internalized the standard the greater its accessibility. A significant quadratic trend for prejudice revealed that accessibility decreases with increasing prejudice, except that at very high levels of prejudice accessibility begins to increase. Implications for prejudice reduction for both low- and high-prejudice individuals are discussed. KEYWORDS. Prejudice, homosexuality, gay men, heterosexual attitudes, accessibility, social cognition, intergroup relations

Gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth are at risk for a variety of clinical problems amenable to psychotherapeutic intervention. However, many psychotherapists may be unaware of the difficulties faced by this population. The purpose of this article is to familiarize therapists with presenting complaints common to psychotherapy-seeking gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth. Some of these problems include homophobia among family, peers, and authority figures (often expressed at school or at work), depression, suicidality, social anxiety, and body image disturbance. We illustrate these important issues via four case examples. Keywords: homophobia; depression; suicidatity; social anxiety; body image distortion

The authors criticize psychological literature on 'heterosexism' for obscuring flexible discursive practices; they evaluate sources where sexuality is relevant, highlighting speakers' resources in handling heterosexist discussions. The conclusion reveals that negativity is not built in to the language but is added as prejudicial or troublesome by participants in situations.

Homonegativity is a term that many psychologists use to describe irrational fear of homosexuality. Due to a growing number of male rapes in the United States and the unchecked levels of homonegativity, it is hypothesized that homosexuals will be treated differently from heterosexuals in sexual assault trials. Four conditions were examined controlling for the gender and sexuality of both the defendant and the victim and a sexual assault trial text was created controlling for factors known to affect juror's decisions. Seventy-two participants were divided among the four conditions. This research supports the hypothesis with highly significant results. Future research is suggested. Keywords: Homophobia in the courtroom, sexual assault charges and homophobia, jury verdicts and homophobia

Anal-eroticism and homophobia can be seen in Jacques Lacan's 'Seminar on the Purloined Letter,' although male homosexuality is not mentioned in it, nor are heterosexuality and the phallus. Lacan analyzes Edgar Allan Poe's story, 'The Purloined Letter,' and represents the primary characters as ostriches, one the Queen, whose love letter implicating her in adultery has been stolen, one the King, who must not find out about the letter, and other ostrich characters. The work of Lacan is clearly homoerotic. It can be interpreted from the point of view of Sigmund Freud's 'On Transformation of Instinct as Exemplified in Anal-Eroticism.'

Interpersonal intimacy is more difficult to achieve for American men than women. Research has shown that men disclose less, have fewer close friendships, and are viewed by their wives as low in intimacy. Among the barriers to intimacy among men, Tognoli (1980) suggested that homophobia is the most powerful. The present study tested this idea by asking men to disclose a personal secret to either a male confidant, a female confidante, or by writing the secret. It was expected that the presence of a male confidant would stimulate homophobic feelings and inhibit disclosure, while the other two conditions would result in more personal disclosure. A correlation between intimacy of disclosure and level of homophobia was also expected. Subjects were 75 heterosexual men, 31 to 50 years of age, randomly assigned to one of the three conditions. They also completed the Miller Social Intimacy Scale, the Jourard Self-Disclosure Questionnaire, the Index of Homophobia, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Results showed that homophobia was inversely related to level of social intimacy. There was some indication that homophobia does relate to less intimate disclosure to other males. Thus this study found some support for the idea that homophobia is an obstacle to intimacy for men.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether internalized homophobia is related to psychological distress and coping style and whether these relationships are moderated by illness stage. A sample of gay men, most of whom were HIV+, Caucasian, and well educated, were administered assessments at both baseline and 2-year follow-up, which allowed for the assessment of change over time in the context of HIV illness progression and to determine whether internalized homophobia predicts psychological distress and coping over time. Greater internalized homophobia at baseline, specifically among those who were HIV+ asymptomatic, predicted higher levels of distress at follow-up. In contrast, internalized homophobia had, at best, a weak association with coping. No relationship was found between illness stage and internalized homophobia, psychological distress, or coping. Mental health professionals working with HIV+ gay men may be more effective in targeting resources and interventions aimed at improving mental health and quality of life if they address issues related to internalized homophobia. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: getinfo@haworth.com]

Sport psychology has for too long ignored homonegativism and its effects, compounding those of a heterosexist society, upon lesbian athletes. A conceptual framework for studying and understanding these effects should recognize the socialization effects of these sport and society influences, the athlete's personal reactions, and the effects of positive social support and positive role models in creating the lesbian athlete's identity. The framework is based on a feminist analysis of sport.

The outcomes for young offenders (N = 37) of two teaching modules for reducing homophobia were evaluated using a multigroup pretest-posttest design. Dependent variables were cognitive, affective, and behavioral self-report measures, as well as short-story responses. Cognition was assessed by the Modified Attitudes Toward Homosexuality Scale (Price, 1982). Affects of homophobic guilt, homophobic anger, and delight were measured by the Affective Reactions to Homosexuality Scale (Van de Ven, Bornholt, & Bailey, in press). Behavioral intentions were assessed by the Homophobic Behavior of Students Scale (Van de Ven et al., in press). Interventions took two forms: a New South Wales Department of School Education module and a Community Care Schools module. The latter, which specifically addressed maintenance factors of juvenile offender homophobia, was anticipated to result in better outcomes. ANCOVAs and a difference of proportions test revealed that the Community Care Schools module was superior in terms of producing less commitment to homophobic behavior (p [is less than] .005), more positive written responses (p [is less than] .001), and more positive delight scores (p [is less than] .05). Implications for further interventions and research are discussed.

The present work tests the associations of sports ideology with sexist and anti-homosexual attitudes in a sample of 304 college students. It was found that sports ideology is positively associated with sexist and anti-homosexual attitudes, but only among males. Among females only sexist attitudes were associated with negative attitudes toward gays and lesbians. Among males, the link of sports ideology to anti-homosexual attitudes was independent of sexist beliefs. Reciprocal causal influences between sexist attitudes and sports ideology are discussed.

Expectations about counseling have been studied in relation to many variables, but little work has explored the expectations that gay men and lesbians-have about the counseling process and specifically their expectations when the counselor's sexual orientation is known. The present study examined gay/lesbian expectations about counseling when the counselor is designated as either homosexual or heterosexual. The effect of client's internalized homophobia on counseling expectations was also examined. Multivariate analyses indicated no differences in counseling expectations based on knowledge of the counselor's orientation, nor was there a significant orientation x internalized homophobia interaction. There was a significant main effect for internalized homophobia such that those with lower scores on a measure of internalized homophobia had higher expectations for levels of personal commitment to the counseling process.

Similar symptoms are observed in those suffering from physical and sexual abuse and those suffering from heterosexism. Heterosexism is defined as cultural prejudice against gays and lesbians. Both are a form of victimisation and therefore can be treated with the same therapies. As there is no recognised therapy for victims of heterosexism, treatment for sexual and physical abuse symptoms can be transferred to treat the former.

The results of a survey administered to 806 undergraduate students serve as the basis for analyzing the relationships among traditional gender roles, same-sex intimacy, and homophobia. High levels of homophobia and low levels of intimacy were found among those who believe strongly in the traditional roles. Previous research has shown both homophobia and a lack of intimacy to be harmful to individuals and for society. The present findings may, therefore, constitute empirical evidence of the negative effects of gender roles. Sex differences found in the survey results also support this contention. A general model of the consequences of traditional gender role beliefs for those who hold these views is also speculated.

Objectives. This study assessed the relation between experiences of social discrimination (homophobia, racism, and financial hardship) and symptoms of psychologic distress (anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation) among self-identified gay and bisexual Latino men in the United States. Methods. Data were collected from a probability sample of 912 men (self-identified as both Latino and non-heterosexual) recruited from the venues and public social spaces identified as both Latino and gay in the cities of Miami, Los Angeles, and New York. Results. The study showed high prevalence rates of psychologic symptoms of distress in the population of gay Latino men during the 6 months before the interview, including suicidal ideation (17% prevalence), anxiety (44%), and depressed mood (80%). In both univariate and multivariate analyses, experiences of social discrimination were strong predictors of psychologic symptoms. Conclusions. The mental health difficulties experienced by many gay and bisexual Latino men in the United States are directly related to a social context of oppression that leads to social alienation, low self-esteem, and symptoms of psychologic distress, (Am J Public Health. 2001:91:927-932)

We propose that heterosexuals' attitudes toward their own heterosexual identity evolve in a manner similar to the development of racial identity attitudes among Whites-another dominant group with privileged social status. A more developed heterosexual identity, we hypothesized, would be associated with diminished levels of negative attitudes toward non-heterosexuals. To test our hypotheses, we administered to 154 heterosexual students Herek's (1988) Attitudes Toward Gays and Lesbians scale measuring heterosexist (i.e., anti-gay) attitudes and a version of Helms and Carter's (1990) White Racial Identity Attitude Scale (WRIAS) modified to assess heterosexual identity attitudes. Hierarchical regression analyses controlling demographic indicators partially confirmed the hypothesized associations between evolving identity stages and less heterosexist attitudes. The role of recognizing one's social privilege is proposed (though not empirically examined) as a potential mediator between developing a dominant group identity and decreasing prejudicial attitudes towards non-privileged groups. Finally, implications and recommendations for future research and addressing heterosexism are presented. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: Website: [C] 2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.] KEYWORDS. Gay, lesbian, homosexuality, heterosexual identity attitudes, heterosexism, homophobia, privilege, prejudice

A convenience sample of 57 lesbian women who had been recruited for a study of adjustment to breast cancer completed measures of internalized homophobia, degree of disclosure of sexual orientation, social support, self-esteem, and distress. Consistent with our prediction, internalized homophobia related to greater distress. Contrary to our prediction, disclosure did not relate to lower distress. Path models were consistent with the position that internalized homophobia promotes distress through lower self-esteem and perceived unavailability of social support. However, the data were also consistent with a model in which low self-esteem leads to internalized homophobia by way of elevated distress. Internalized homophobia also related inversely to utilization of health care resources. Our discussion centers on the need for more information regarding this understudied population.

ABSTRACT. The author extended the proposition (V. J. Derlega, R. J. Lewis, S. Harrison, B. A. Winstead, & R. Costanza, 1989) that the fear of being seen as homosexual accounts [...]

A major project of lesbian and gay liberation politics has been its response to the pathologizing of homosexuality within classical psychoanalysis and its many revisions (ego psychology, self-psychology, object relations, […]

Gay men and lesbians reportedly use and abuse alcohol and substances at rates higher than the general population. This higher rate has been questioned, but, whether gay men and lesbians have more use and abuse or not, unique clinical considerations are involved in addiction treatment for gay men and lesbians. The psychodynamic factors that contribute to the creation and powerful influence of internalized homophobia for gay men and lesbians can explain the predisposition to substance use and abuse. Parents may not be able to acknowledge or reward the differences that may be apparent in the pre-homosexual child. The child will learn to hide or dissociate from those differences. In addition, the psychology of difference, that is, learning how to live with and accept things about one's self that are different from the majority, will contribute to further denial and dissociation from true feelings and needs. Substance use allows the expression of suppressed and repressed desires and needs and facilitates denial and dissociation. Gay men and lesbians may find the comfort in using drugs and alcohol leads to increased use, abuse, and possible dependency. Treatment of gay men and lesbians with substance use disorders will need to address the internalized homophobia as part of the recovery process. Traditional psychotherapy will not be helpful while the individual is actively drinking or drugging but supportive therapy can be quite helpful until the individual is in recovery. Psychotherapy then can be used to help accept and integrate a gay or lesbian identity and help support relapse prevention. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: Website: ] KEYWORDS. Homosexuality, substance use disorders, homophobia, addiction treatment, psychotherapy, psychology of difference, dissociation