Attitudes around homosexuals: contact effects from a life course perspective

1. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals: contact effects from a life course perspective

2. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Work in progress Co-authors: Dr. Marcel Lubbers, Radboud University Nijmegen Prof. Duane Alwin, Pennsylvania State University

3. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Overview of this presentation • research questions • the situation in the Netherlands • theoretical background: does contact change attitudes? • data collection and structure • retrospective biases? • empirical tests • conclusions

4. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Research questions • How do attitudes toward homosexuals develop over the life course? • What is the effect of contact with gay men and lesbians and its timing over the life course on the attitude toward homosexuals? • Can retrospective data on attitudes be used for research on the life-span development of attitudes?

5. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals The situation in the Netherlands Sources: Sex in the Netherlands 1968; Cultural Changes in the Netherlands, 1970-1996

6. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals The situation in the Netherlands traditional explanations: • secularisation: influence of the churches declines • composition of the Dutch society: less religious, higher educated • modernisation: general increase in sexual permissiveness alternative explanation: • increased contact with gay men and lesbians

7. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Theoretical background Does contact change attitudes? Yes, it might, if: • a person with negative attitudes toward homosexuals expects certain behaviour from members of this group; • equal status contact leads to a more positive impression of the group member than previously expected; • this unexpected positive evaluation is generalized to the entire group of homosexuals

8. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Theoretical background Does contact change attitudes? • Problems with previous research: experiments • duration of the attitude change • highly selective subjects • Problems with previous research: surveys • causality

9. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Theoretical background - hypotheses • People grow more disapproving of homosexuality with age • Contact with gay men or lesbians positively affects attitudes toward homosexuality • Effects from contact on the attitude toward homosexuality are larger for younger respondents Also hypotheses on the usual suspects, including: • gender, church membership, church attendance, leaving church, educational attainment

10. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Data collection Family Survey Dutch Population 2003 • net response rate 52.6 • over sampling of couples • 2166 respondents • retrospective questions

11. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Data collection Dependent variable: • How do you feel about homosexuality? • approve completely – disapprove completely • Could you estimate your opinion on homosexuality when you were 18, 30 and 50 years old? • approve completely – disapprove completely

12. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Data structure multi level design: 4376 occasions within 2115 respondents previous attitude toward homosexuality is predictor of the current attitude, so only respondents with at least two occasions are included in the analysis the attitude at age 18 can only serve as a predictor of the next attitude, whereas the current attitude can only serve as a dependent variable; attitudes in between serve as predictor as well as dependent variable in the analysis

13. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Data structure

14. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Data structure Contact with homosexuals: Did you ever experience the coming out of a friend / relative? If so, at what age did this happen to you for the first time? More than one third (36.2 %) of respondents reports having a gay friend or relative. The highest percentage is among the 45-49 year olds (43.8 %), the lowest percentage among the 65-79 year olds (19.1 %)

15. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Retrospective bias: simplex structure for complete sample

16. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Retrospective biases Other biases in the data, checks for: • reluctance to report negative attitudes one is now ashamed of • selection bias

17. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Empirical tests Multi level growth curve models (see hand-out) to predict attitudes toward homosexuality • first step: empty model • second step: auto regression • third step: age • fourth step: individual characteristics • fifth step: contact with gay men and lesbians • sixth step: interaction terms

18. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Conclusions With age, people grow more conservative with respect to homosexuals Contact with gay men and lesbians positively affects the attitude toward homosexuals Older respondents experience less change as a result of contact with gay friends, but a similar amount of change as a result of contact with gay relatives No biases identified, but a prospective design required

19. Eva Jaspers Attitudes around homosexuals Questions, remarks?