Abstract
Abstract. This study investigated the moderation effect of contact with gay men and lesbian women on the relationship between religiosity levels with the endorsement of same-sex unions’ and families’ rights. Analyses were carried out on a national representative cross-sectional sample of 5,544 Italian adult residents (% females = 54). Multiple linear regressions coupled with an examination of the interaction between contact and religiosity showed that contact mitigated the negative relationship between religiosity and endorsement of same-sex unions’ and families’ rights, especially at lower rather than higher levels of religiosity. These results are important in terms of understandings of the relationship between religiosity and policy preference regarding same-sex unions’ and families’ rights. Contact can promote equality for gay men and lesbian women but different susceptibility levels persist between highly and less religious individuals in this respect.
References
2016). Same-sex unions in Italy and the recent European Court of Human Rights case law: A short comment on Oliari and Others versus Italy (judgment of 21.7. 2015). International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies, 4, 176–179. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJHRCS.2016.078276
(1954). The nature of prejudice. New York, NY: Addison-Wesley.
(1967). Personal religious orientation and prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5, 432–443. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0021212
(2015). Exploring patterns of explicit and implicit anti‐gay attitudes in Muslims and Atheists. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45, 687–701. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2126
(2013). Attitudes of Italian heterosexual older adults towards lesbian and gay parenting. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 10, 285–292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-013-0129-2
(2015). My friend is gay, but… The effects of social contact on Christian Evangelicals’ beliefs about gays and lesbians. Review of Religious Research, 57, 239–268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-014-0184-z
(2018). Forgiveness and religious practice: A study on a sample of Italian preadolescents. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 39, 223–232. https://doi.org/10.1080/13617672.2017.1381439
(2009). Community context, personal contact, and support for an anti-gay rights referendum. Political Research Quarterly, 62, 355–365. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912908317033
(2009). 2 < 1 + 1? The impact of contact with gay and lesbian couples on attitudes about gays/lesbians and gay-related policies. Politics & Policy, 37, 31–50. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2007.00160.x
(1993). Religion and the individual: A social-psychological perspective. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
(2012). The cross-pressures of religion and contact with gays and lesbians, and their impact on same-sex marriage opinion. Politics and Policy, 40, 13–42. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2011.00337.x
(2007).
(Cross-national comparisons of individual religiosity . In J. A. BeckfordN. J. Demerath IIIEds., The SAGE handbook of the sociology of religion (pp. 463–489). London, UK: Sage.2008). Socio-demographic predictors of attitudes towards gays and lesbians. Individual Differences Research, 6, 193–202.
(2012). Catechism of the Catholic Church. Vatican City, Rome: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
. (2014). “The contact hypothesis” and attitudes toward same- sex parenting. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 12, 125–136. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-014-0171-8
(2005). Different emotional reactions to different groups: A sociofunctional threat-based approach to “prejudice”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 770–789. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.88.5.770
(2013). The moderating effects of contact with lesbian and gay friends on the relationships among religious fundamentalism, sexism, and sexual prejudice. Journal of Sex Research, 50, 401–408. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2011.648029
(2004). Correlates of negative attitudes toward gay men: Sexism, male role norms, and male sexuality. Journal of Sex Research, 41, 259–266. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490409552233
(1999). Religious orientation and prejudice: The role of religious proscription, right-wing. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 9, 157–179. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327582ijpr0903_1
(2011). Straight allies: What predicts heterosexuals’ alliance with the LGBT community? 1. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41, 2230–2248. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00807.x
(2017). Who has the worst attitudes toward sexual minorities? Comparison of transphobia and homophobia levels in gender dysphoric individuals, the general population and health care providers. Journal of Endocrinological Investigation, 40, 263–273. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-016-0552-3
(2013). Ambivalence, the intergroup contact hypothesis, and attitudes about gay rights. Politics & Policy, 41, 241–266. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12010
(2016). Attitudes toward adoption by same-sex couples: Effects of gender of the participant, sexual orientation of the couple, and gender of the child. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 12, 46–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/1550428X.2015.1049771
(2014). Negative intergroup contact is more influential, but positive intergroup contact is more common: Assessing contact prominence and contact prevalence in five Central European countries. European Journal of Social Psychology, 44, 536–547. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2052
(2015). Attitudes toward homosexuality among young adults: Connections to gender role identity, gender-typed activities, and religiosity. Journal of Homosexuality, 62, 1098–1125. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2015.1021635
(2011). Do ideologically intolerant people benefit from intergroup contact? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 154–159. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721411409025
(2013).
(Is intergroup contact beneficial among intolerant people? Exploring individual differences in the benefits of contact on attitudes . In G. HodsonM. HewstoneEds., Advances in intergroup contact (pp. 49–80). London, UK: Psychology Press.2013). Advances in intergroup contact. New York, NY: Psychology Press.
(2009). Independent benefits of contact and friendship on attitudes toward homosexuals among authoritarians and highly identified heterosexuals. European Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 509–525. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.558
(2016). Who needs imagined contact? Replication attempts examining previous contact as a potential moderator. Social Psychology, 47, 118–124. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000258
(2020). Coming out, intergroup relations, and attitudes towards LGBT rights. Oxford encyclopedia of LGBT politics and policy, Oxford University Press. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1179
(2019). Annual review of the human rights situation of lesbian. Retrieved from https://www.ilga-europe.org/sites/default/files/Attachments/annual_review_2017_online.pdf
. (2014). Survey on discriminations by gender, sexual orientation and ethnic origin. Retrieved from http://www.istat.it/en/archive/137611
. (2015). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. London, UK: Guilford Press.
(2010). The Duke University Religion Index (DUREL): A five-item measure for use in epidemological studies. Religions, 1, 78–85. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel1010078
(2019). Ideological Orientations, LGBT Contact, and Formation of LGBT Policy Position. Social Science Quarterly, 100, 779–792. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12579
(2015). Human values, legal regulation, and approval of homosexuality in Europe: A cross‐country comparison. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45, 120–134. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2068
(2014). Reconciling the contact and threat hypotheses: Does ethnic diversity strengthen or weaken community inter-ethnic relations? Ethnic and Racial Studies, 37, 1328–1349. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2013.788727
(2015). Can we really reduce ethnic prejudice outside the lab? A meta-analysis of direct and indirect contact interventions. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45, 152–168. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2079
(2011). The friends and family plan: Contact with gays and support for gay rights. The Policy Studies Journal, 39, 217–238. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0072.2011.00405.x
(2014). Social dominance orientation, cross-group friendship and prejudice towards homosexuals. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116, 4988–4992. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.1060
(2016). Homonegativity in Italy: Cultural issues, personality characteristics, and demographic correlates with negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 13, 95–108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-015-0197-6
(2013).
(Generalized effects of intergroup contact: The secondary transfer effect . In G. HodsonM. HewstoneEds., Advances in intergroup contact (pp. 81–112). London, UK: Psychology Press.2015). The development of online cross-group relationships among university students: Benefits of earlier (vs. later) disclosure of stigmatized group membership. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 32, 788–809. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407514548394
(2013).
(Homophobic bullying in Catholic high schools: Five US studies in heterosexism, authority, masculinity, and religion . In Z. GrossL. DaviesA.-K. DiabEds., Gender, religion and education in a chaotic postmodern world (pp. 271–284). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.2013). Modern prejudice and same-sex parenting: Shifting judgments in positive and negative parenting situations. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 9, 129–151. https://doi.org/10.1080/1550428X.2013.765257
(2014). A meta-analytic test of the imagined contact hypothesis. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 17, 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430213510573
(2011). System justification, right-wing conservatism, and internalized homophobia: Gay and lesbian attitudes toward same-sex parenting in Italy. Sex Roles, 65, 580. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-9969-5
(2015). Famiglie possibili: uno studio sugli atteggiamenti verso la genitorialità di persone gay e lesbiche
([Possible families: A study on attitudes towards parenting of gay and lesbian people] . Giornale Italiano di Psicologia, 42, 805–808. https://doi.org/10.1421/819432017). A mediational model explaining the connection between religiosity and anti-homosexual attitudes in Italy: The effects of male role endorsement and homosexual stereotyping. Journal of Homosexuality, 64, 1961–1977. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2017.1289005
(2019). Moderators of linear and nonlinear associations between religiosity, xenophobia, and tolerance toward immigrants in Italy. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 11, 399–407. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000223
(2016). An emerging right to a “gay” family life? The case Oliari v. Italy in a comparative perspective. German Law Journal, 17, 451–485. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200019830
(2013). Prejudice toward gay men and lesbians in relation to cross-group friendship and gender. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 84, 308–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.557
(2017). Intergroup contact and social change: Implications of negative and positive contact for collective action in advantaged and disadvantaged groups. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43, 121–136. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167216676478
(2019). Gender stereotypes and contact with gay men and lesbians: The mediational role of sexism and homonegativity. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 29, 461–473. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2412
(2002). Effects of social contact with homosexuals on heterosexual Turkish university students’ attitudes towards homosexuality. Journal of Homosexuality, 42, 53–62. https://doi.org/10.1300/J082v42n01_03
(2018).
(National attitudes as a barrier to European citizenship rights? The case of parenthood and partnership rights for individuals in diverse family forms . In T. KnijnM. NaldiniEds., Gender and generational division in EU citizenship (pp. 60–84). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.2013). Composite variables: When and how. Nursing Research, 62, 45–49. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0b013e3182741948
(2009). The effects of contact on sexual prejudice: A meta-analysis. Sex Roles, 61, 178–191. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-009-9627-3
(2017). Replicability crisis in social psychology: Looking at the past to find new pathways for the future. International Review of Social Psychology, 30, 111–124. https://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.66
(2017). LGBTI in OECD countries: A review (OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers No. 198). Paris, France: OECD Publishing.
(2009). Religiosity and attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: A meta-analysis. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 19, 21–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508610802471104
(2017). The roles of politics, feminism, and religion in attitudes toward LGBT individuals: A cross-cultural study of college students in the USA, Italy, and Spain. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 14, 241–258. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-016-0244-y
(2018). Attitudes toward parenthood, partnership, and social rights for diverse families: Evidence from a pilot study in five countries. Journal of Homosexuality, 65, 80–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2017.1310507
(