Journal Article

Willingness to Remain Friends and Attend School with Lesbian and Gay Peers: Relational Expressions of Prejudice Among Heterosexual Youth

Espelage, Dorothy L, Koenig, Brian W, Paul Poteat, V

2009

Overview

In this study, heterosexual students' willingness to remain friends with peers who disclose that they are gay or lesbian and their willingness to attend schools that include gay and lesbian students were examined among two large middle school and high school samples (Sample 1: n = 20,509; 50.7% girls; Sample 2: n = 16,917; 50.2% girls). Boys were less willing than girls to remain friends or attend schools with gay and lesbian peers, as were students in earlier grades than were students in later grades. Further, there was small, yet significant, variability in these scores across schools. Greater racial diversity within the school partially accounted for this school-level variability; students in more racially diverse schools reported greater willingness to remain friends and attend school with gay and lesbian peers. Findings suggest that while intervention programs must continue to address blatant and overt physical aggression against sexual minority youth, there is also a significant need for programming to address the more subtle expressions of sexual prejudice that contribute to unwelcoming and unsafe school climates.

• Publisher: Boston : Springer US,Springer US,Springer,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Adolescent / Adolescents / Age differences / Aggression / Aggressiveness / Attitude / Behavioral Science and Psychology / Child and School Psychology / Clinical Psychology / Consciousness Raising / Educational Environment / Empirical Research / Female / Females / Friends / Friendship / Gays & lesbians / Girls / Grade 10 / Grade 11 / Health Psychology / Heterosexuality / High School Students / History of Psychology / Homophobia / Homosexuality / Homosexuality, Female / Homosexuality, Male / Humans / Interpersonal Relations / Intervention / Law and Psychology / Lesbianism / Male / Middle School Students / Minority & ethnic groups / Minority Groups / Minority students / Peer Group / Peer Groups / Peer Relationship / Peer relationships / Prejudice / Psychology / Racial Factors / School Culture / Schools / Secondary school students / Sex Differences / Sexism / Sexual orientation / Sexuality / Social Attitudes / Social Behavior / Social Bias / Social Environment / Social Perception / Student Attitudes / Student Diversity / Students / Teenagers / Transgender persons / Youth