Peer attitudes toward LGBT-identified university students as mediated by demographic factors

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to measure university student attitudes toward their LGBT peers across a range of demographic factors. We surveyed 416 undergraduates at a midsize Midwestern American public university to measure attitudes toward LGBT people. Results from a general Attitudes scale and two subscales, Morality and Friendship, were analyzed across gender, age, ethnicity, LGBT status, and years spent at the university. Results were also broken out into attitudes about LGB vs. transgender people, and attitudes about gay or bisexual men vs. lesbian or bisexual women. We found that female gender, LGBT identification, age, and number of years spent at the university were associated with more positive attitudes about LGBT people. We did not find any association between ethnicity and attitudes. We also found that attitudes toward gay or bisexual men were less positive than attitudes toward lesbian or bisexual women, and that attitudes toward transgender individuals were less positive than attitudes toward LGB people. These results suggest that anti-bias campus trainings may be most effective when tailored for males, younger students, and non-LGBT students. Trainings should also focus on transgender issues, as this is a population about which many students have negative attitudes.