Abstract
The article aims to measure implicit sexual attitude in heterosexual, gay and bisexual individuals. A Many-Facet Rasch Measurement analysis was used to disentangle the contribution of specific associations to the overall IAT measure. A preference for heterosexuals relative to homosexuals is observed in heterosexual respondents, driven most by associating positive attributes with heterosexuals rather than negative attributes with homosexuals. Differently, neither the negative nor the positive evaluation of any of the target groups play a prominent role in driving the preference for homosexuals observed in gay respondents. A preference for heterosexuals relative to homosexuals is observed in bisexual respondents, that results most from ascribing negative attributes to homosexuals rather than positive attributes to heterosexuals. The results are consistent with the expression of the need for achieving a positive self-image and with the influence of shared social norms concerning sexuality.
Highlights
Sexual prejudice refers to a negative attitude toward an individual because of her or his sexual orientation
Given the widely shared perception of heterosexuality as the ‘‘correct’’ way of intending sexual behavior, this type of prejudice is often directed toward people who engage in homosexual behaviors, and toward gay men, lesbians, or bisexual individuals [1]
Research on prejudice based on sexual orientation has taken advantage of the diffusion of implicit measures
Summary
Sexual prejudice refers to a negative attitude toward an individual because of her or his sexual orientation. Research on prejudice based on sexual orientation has taken advantage of the diffusion of implicit measures These measures aim at capturing positive and negative features of the target object that might rely outside of conscious awareness, or that might not be accurately reported through introspection. The Sexuality Implicit Association Test (Sexuality IAT) [3] has been the most widely used implicit measure of sexual attitude It is a computerized two-choice discrimination task in which stimuli have to be categorized as belonging to the target categories Heterosexuals and Homosexuals, or to the attribute categories Good and Bad by pressing, as quickly and accurately as possible, one of two response keys. Categorizing the stimuli more quickly when Heterosexuals shares the response key with Good – and Homosexuals with Bad – than when it shares the response key with Bad – and Homosexuals with Good – is taken to indicate an implicit preference for heterosexuals relative to homosexuals
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