Ideological Concerns in the Operationalization of Homophobia, Part II: The Need for Interpretive Sensitivity with Conservatively Religious Persons

Abstract

Building on the first article in this series (Rosik, 2007), the present study provided empirical analyses to determine the degree to which the relationship between conservative religion and homophobia as defined by Herek's (1998) Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale (ATLG-R) was dependent upon items experienced as antireligious by Christian students. Three multiple regression analyses revealed that the associations between homonegative attitudes and respondents’ intrinsic religiousness, religious practice, and beliefs about the authority of the Bible were predicted only by the “Condemnation-Tolerance” component after accounting for gender, age and the remaining components of the ATLG-R. These findings suggest the possibility of an ideologically based circularity in the relationship between conservative religion and the construct of homophobia as measured by the ATLG-R. Thus, for these respondents the ATLG-R may function as an empirically packaged method of disparaging their religiously-based values concerning homosexuality. It is requisite that mental health professionals cultivate greater sensitivity to such concerns.