On the Origin of Beliefs about the Sexual Orientation and Gender-role Development of Children Raised by Gay-male and Heterosexual Parents: An Italian Study

Andrea Carnaghi,Joel Anderson,Mauro Bianchi

doi:10.1177/1097184x18775462

Abstract

In three studies, heterosexual participants were presented with descriptions of heterosexual and gay-male parents. Importantly, the level of gender-role conformity of the gay-male parents was experimentally manipulated, resulting in their level of gender-role conformity ranging from high to low. Compared to the son of a heterosexual couple, the son of all gay-male couples had a lower expected likelihood of developing as heterosexual. This result was independent of the level of gender-role conformity of the gay-male couples (study 1–3). The beliefs about the gender-role development of the son, in terms of anticipated masculinity (study 1), gender stereotyping (study 2), and affective adjustment (study 3), mapped onto the level of gender-role conformity of the parents, regardless of their sexual orientation. Also, heterosexual parents were consistently judged more positively than gay-male parents, independently of their level of gender-role conformity (study 1–3). Results were discussed within the theoretical framework of stereotypes about gay-male parenting.

Highlights

Several studies have addressed the interplay between sexual orientation and gender-role conformity information on the evaluation and stereotyping of gay and lesbian individuals (e.g., Hunt et al 2016; Salvati et al 2016)
Participants stereotyped the son as masculine in the heterosexual parent description, and this level of gender stereotyping did not differ from the GMM and GMF parent description
The son was anticipated as more likely to develop as heterosexual if raised by heterosexual parents than by gay-male parents, and no differences existed between the different gay-male parents description in terms of this variable

Summary

Introduction

Several studies have addressed the interplay between sexual orientation and gender-role conformity information on the evaluation and stereotyping of gay and lesbian individuals (e.g., Hunt et al 2016; Salvati et al 2016). Research conducted on Italian samples and in a cross-cultural design has demonstrated that the endorsement of religious beliefs and being politically conservative, among other factors, contribute to sexual prejudice (Lingiardi et al 2016; Worthen, Lingiardi and Caristo 2017) Differently to other EU countries, same-sex civil partnerships, but not same-sex parenting rights, were legally recognized in Italy in 2016. This cultural context represents a fertile ground for our investigation. We assessed the anticipated gender-role conformity of the son by using different measures, such as the expected gender-role development (i.e., the extent to which the son would develop to be masculine), the anticipated gender stereotyping (e.g., the extent to which the son would prefer to play football [vs. being interested in fashion]), and the anticipated psychological adjustment on gender-stereotypical dimensions (e.g., affective development)

Methods

Results

Conclusion