Abstract
Previous studies have found that “disgust-sensitive” individuals have negative attitudes toward gay and lesbian people, but the underlying mechanisms for such attitudes remain unclear. Based on moral foundations theory, the current paper assumes that the relationship between disgust sensitivity and attitudes toward homosexuality are mediated by moral foundations. In order to test this assumption, the current authors examined the questionnaire answers from a total of 452 Chinese undergraduates who participated in this study. The results showed that disgust sensitivity was positively correlated with negative attitudes toward homosexuality, and positively correlated with moral concerns in five domains (care, fairness, loyalty, authority, and sanctity). Authority and sanctity were both associated with attitudes toward homosexuality, while only sanctity mediated the relationship between disgust sensitivity and attitudes toward homosexuality. Overall, the results suggest that considering moral foundations (especially sanctity) may lend more insight to the associations between disgust sensitivity and negative attitudes toward gay and lesbian people.
Highlights
Over the past few years, several countries, such as the United States and Finland, have begun to legally recognize same-sex marriages
The results showed that disgust sensitivity had a positive total association with ATLG [β = 0.29, SE = 0.06, t = 5.32, p < 0.001, 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) (0.18, 0.40)]
Sanctity had a positive association with ATLG [β = 1.50, SE = 0.21, t = 7.08, p < 0.001, 95% CI (1.08, 1.91)]
Summary
Over the past few years, several countries, such as the United States and Finland, have begun to legally recognize same-sex marriages. A public survey in 39 countries, conducted by the Pew Research Center (2013), found that homosexuality was broadly accepted in North America, the European Union, and much of Latin America. Public attitudes toward homosexuality (i.e., attitudes toward lesbians and gay men, or ATLG, for its acronym) affect social policies on homosexuality and gay and lesbian rights (Lin et al, 2016). In 2014, several state legislatures in United States passed controversial laws that allowed the refusal of business service to Disgust, Moral Foundations and ATLG gay and lesbian people based on religious objections (Sanchez and Marquez, 2014). Exploring how and to what extent certain factors influence attitudes toward homosexuality is vital in enabling more effective policy making and collective action to improve worldwide awareness of gay rights
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