Addressing University Students’ Anti-Gay Bias: An Extension of the Contact Hypothesis

Abstract

One method frequently employed as an intervention to reduce anti-gay bias is a lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) speaker panel. These speakers share brief biographical sketches about their coming out experiences and then answer questions. A pretest/posttest control group design examined the impact of LGB speaker panels on university students’ anti-gay bias. A main effect for time indicated that both the experimental and control groups reported lower anti-gay bias scores at the posttest. The pretest questionnaires may have acted as an intervention by initiating dialogue among the participants about their experiences with LGB individuals and, in turn, a decrease in anti-gay attitudes.