Intergroup communication schemas: Cognitive representations of talk with gay men

Abstract

Despite a plethora of studies examining attitudes toward gay men, there are no data on heterosexuals’ communicative expectations about conversing with people inferred as belonging to this social category. Building upon prior work on intergenerational communication schemas, the present study represents a first attempt to fulfill this need through a content analysis (accompanied by illustrative discourse) of one hundred American heterosexuals’ cognitive and affective representations of conversations with gay men. Schemas identified included homonegative, gay stereotype, offense avoidance and learning about homosexuality and these were compared with schemas found previously in the intergenerational context. Concepts derived from social identity and social dominance theories were invoked to inform our interpretations of these gay-heterosexual narratives and directions for future research are discussed.