Associations Between Fathers' Masculinity Orientation and Anticipated Reaction Toward Their Child's Coming Out.

Dirk Kranz

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.711988

Abstract

The present study examined associations between fathers’ masculinity orientation and their anticipated reaction toward their child’s coming out as lesbian or gay (LG). Participants were 134 German fathers (28 to 60years) of a minor child. They were asked how they would personally react if, one day, their child disclosed their LG identity to them. As hypothesized, fathers with a stronger masculinity orientation (i.e., adherence to traditional male gender norms, such as independence, assertiveness, and physical strength) reported that they would be more likely to reject their LG child. This association was serially mediated by two factors: fathers’ general anti-LG attitudes (i.e., level of homophobia) and their emotional distress due to their child’s coming out (e.g., feelings of anger, shame, or sadness). The result pattern was independent of the child’s gender or age. The discussion centers on the problematic role of traditional masculinity when it comes to fathers’ acceptance of their non-heterosexual child.

Highlights

How would fathers react if their child came out as a lesbian or gay (LG) person? Given that less than 5% of the overall population feels sexually attracted to persons of the same sex (Bailey et al, 2016; Haversath et al, 2017), this scenario is not likely to happen but within the realm of possibility
We suggest that fathers with a traditional masculinity orientation tend to reject rather than accept an LG child
We conducted the crucial mediation analysis to test whether the association between masculinity orientation and LG child rejection was mediated by anti-LG attitudes and the affective response toward the child’s coming out

Summary

Introduction

How would fathers react if their child came out as a lesbian or gay (LG) person? Given that less than 5% of the overall population feels sexually attracted to persons of the same sex (Bailey et al, 2016; Haversath et al, 2017), this scenario is not likely to happen but within the realm of possibility. We suggest that fathers with a traditional masculinity orientation tend to reject rather than accept an LG child. Such personality–behavior association should be mediated by two factors: anti-LG attitudes, as consequence of masculinity orientation, and the affective reaction toward the child’s coming out, as antecedence of the behavioral reaction. For LG adolescents, disclosing their sexual orientation is a big biographical step (Savin-Williams and Cohen, 2015; Alonzo and Buttitta, 2019). They must decide on whether and when to come out, and, most precariously, with whom to share their LG identity. Outness is conducive to social integration (Beals et al, 2009; Weisz et al, 2016); on the other, it bears the risk of discrimination (Legate et al, 2012; Riggle et al, 2017)

Results

Discussion

Conclusion