Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Galdi, Silvia
• Guizzo, Francesca
• Fasoli, Fabio

Titel

Media representation matters: The effects of exposure to counter-stereotypical gay male characters on heterosexual men’s expressions of discrimination

Ist Teil von

• Group processes & intergroup relations, 2023-09, Vol.26 (6), p.1329-1350

Ort / Verlag

London, England: SAGE Publications

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Presence of gay men in mainstream media may have a positive impact on viewers’ attitude change. However, gay male characters are often stereotypically portrayed as feminine, and no research has yet explored audiences’ reactions to counter-stereotypical gay characters. Heterosexual Italian men (N = 158) were exposed to a clip portraying (i) a stereotypical feminine gay male character, (ii) a counter-stereotypical masculine gay male character, or (iii) a nature documentary. Compared to the other conditions, exposure to the counter-stereotypical gay character increased discrimination toward gay men, in the form of anti-gay jokes, the higher the level of participants’ prejudice against gay men. Results further demonstrated that this effect was explained by reduced perceived stereotypicality of the character. Findings are in line with the social identity theory prediction that when gay men (outgroup) are perceived as too similar, and potentially threaten the group identity, heterosexual men would attempt to restore ingroup distinctiveness.