High school student's attitudes toward homosexual persons and their relationship with parent and peer norms

Cilj istraživanja bio je ispitati povezanost stavova srednjoškolaca prema osobama homoseksualne orijentacije s roditeljskim i vršnjačkim normama te provjeriti kako taj odnos ovisi o općoj podložnosti roditeljskom i vršnjačkom utjecaju. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 312 učenika srednjih škola na području Hrvatske. Sudionici su regrutirani metodom snježne grude, a podaci prikupljeni online. Za mjere stavova koristile su se Skala stavova prema gej muškarcima i lezbijkama te Skala socijalne distance koja je uključivala samoprocjenu te procjenu roditelja i vršnjaka. Osim toga, u upitniku su korišteni Skala roditeljskog i vršnjačkog utjecaja i sociodemografska pitanja. Rezultati pokazuju da sudionici, u prosjeku, na mjerama stavova imaju blago pozitivan stav prema osobama homoseksualne orijentacije. Roditeljska i vršnjačka norma značajno doprinose objašnjenju stavova sudionika prema osobama homoseksualne orijentacije. Pritom roditeljska norma ima veći doprinos, nego vršnjačka norma. Što su roditeljske i vršnjačke norme negativnije, to je i negativniji stav sudionika prema homoseksualnim osobama. Odnos između vršnjačkih normi i stavova nije moderiran općom podložnošću vršnjačkom utjecaju. Rezultati indiciraju da opća podložnost roditeljskom utjecaju ima značajan moderatorski efekt na odnos između roditeljskih normi i stavova srednjoškolaca prema homoseksualnim osobama. Što su više podložni roditeljskom utjecaju, to je snažnija povezanost njihovih stavova s roditeljskim normama. Ovaj efekt nije prisutan kod pozitivnih roditeljskih normi, ali od neutralnih prema negativnijim normama postaje sve izraženiji.The aim of the research was to examine the correlation of high school students’ attitudes toward individuals of homosexual orientation and parental and peer norms, and to investigate how this attitude is reliant on the general susceptibility to parental and peer influence. The study included 312 high school students from Croatia. Participants were recruited using a snowball method and data was collected on-line. We used Attitudes toward lesbians and gay men scale and the Social distance scale, which included both self-assessment and assessment of parents and peers. In addition, the questionnaire contained the Parent and Peer Influence Scale and sociodemographic questions. The results indicate that high school students, on average, have a slightly positive attitude toward homosexual individuals. Parental and peer norms contributed significantly in explaining participants’ attitudes towards homosexuals, with the parental norm having a greater contribution than the peer norm. More negative attitudes towards homosexual individuals are related to more negative parental and peer norms. The relationship between peer norms and attitudes is not moderated by the general susceptibility to peer influence. Results indicate that the general susceptibility to parental influence has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between parental norms and attitudes of high school students towards homosexuals. The more they are exposed to parental influence, the greater the correlation between their attitudes and parental norms. This effect is not apparent with positive parental norms, but becomes more pronounced with neutral and more negative norms