Effects on homophobia of viewing a gay-themed film.

Abstract

Weinberg (1972) is credited with coining the term homophobia to mean both the fear of homosexuals by heterosexuals and the self-hatred associated with their homosexuality which some gays feel. The earliest research on this subject appears to be that of Smith (1971) who studied this disorder in the first, and most usual, of these two meanings. This study examines the possible effect on homophobia of viewing a film which presents a homosexual relationship in a positive manner. Twenty-four heterosexual male volunteers, college athletes aged 20 to 25 yr., were randomly assigned to two groups. The treatment group viewed You Are Not Alone, a highly acclaimed Danish television feature portraying a homoerotic relationship between two boys. The controls viewed Robbie, a film which retold the story of Robinson Crusoe wich boys in the roles of Crusoe and Friday. Subjects then completed the Index of I-Iomophobia originally developed by Hudson and Ricketts (1980) and modified by Serdahely and Ziemba (1984). The mean score of the treatment group was 52.8, with a standard deviation of 12.5. The control group's mean score was 70.3 wich a standard deviation of 13.4. These scores were significantly different by t test (p = .01; t = 3.02). Given the condition of random assignment, this difference can bc artribu~ed to the treatment. Present findings suggcst that exposure to a film which presents homosexuality in a positive light will have a posltlve effect on homophobia in the viewers. Although the mean difference observed was statistically significant, it should be noted that both means fall within the range identified as low-grade homophobia by Hudson and Ricketts (1980). Exposure to a film such as