Walking the straight and narrow: Examining the role of traditional gender norms in sexual prejudice.

Abstract

In the current work, we examine the extent to which prejudice toward gay men and lesbian women may be driven in part by traditional gender norms and the violation of these norms that same-sex couples represent. Although these relationships have long been theorized, strong empirical evidence is lacking. Across two studies, men who strongly endorsed (Study 1) or were primed with (Study 2) traditional gender norms perceived relationship violence directed toward gay men as less severe, less in need of intervention, and more likely caused by the victim than participants low in gender norm endorsement or primed with neutral content. In contrast, traditional gender norms were less predictive of heterosexual men’s prejudice toward lesbian victims of relationship violence, and not predictive of heterosexual women’s prejudice toward gay and lesbian victims. Thus, the relationship between traditional gender norms and sexual prejudice appears to be strongest for heterosexual men’s prejudice toward gay men.