A comparison of homosexual and heterosexual relationships and an examination of attitudes toward homosexuality

This study was intended to assess the effects of sex and sexual orientation on measures of liking and loving for partner and on responses to some general questions regarding homosexual relationships. It was also intended to establish whether gender is a significant determinant of attitudes toward homosexuals in general, and toward homosexuals of one's own sex, in particular. The final objective was to discover if there is any relationship between attitudes toward women and attitudes toward homosexuals. A total of one hundred subjects was employed (fifty homosexual and fifty heterosexual males and females) to examine these factors. Relationship dynamics were examined using Rubin's (1973) "Liking and Loving scales" and attitudes were measured using the "Heterosexual Attitudes Toward Homosexuals Scale" (Larsen, Reed and Hoffman, 1980), and the "Attitudes Toward Women Scale" (Spence, Helmreich and Stapp, 1973). Four additional questions were asked in an effo1t to gain some general information about attitudes toward homosexuals. The results on the whole were favourable and were mainly consistent with the hypotheses. The first and third hypotheses were wholly supported by the results. The findings with regard to hypothesis two were a little less conclusive, with a significant main effect being gained and a non significant interaction effect. Conclusions were made to the effect that homosexual and heterosexual relationships are remarkably similar and responses to the general questions implied that heterosexuals may slowly be coming to this realisation. Consistent with expectations gender was found to be a powerful predictor of attitudes (with males showing greater rejection of homosexuals than females), but the hypothesis that heterosexuals would be more rejecting of homosexuals of their own sex was not supported. Scores on the two attitude measures were highly correlated as predicted, therefore it was concluded that attitudes toward women and attitudes toward homosexuals are highly related