Religious Fundamentalism and Attitudes towards LGBTQ+ Individuals: Investigating Mediators

Indianapolis, IN

The goal of the current study is to examine religious ethnocentrism and concerns about gender role violations as potential mediators of the association between religiosity and negative attitudes toward the LGBTQ+ community. The mediators were chosen based on prior research that shows that religiosity predicts values (Saroglou, Delpiere, & Dernelle, 2003; Schwartz, 1992). For example, religiosity is negatively associated with values that promote openness to change and autonomy (e.g., universalism). However, religiosity is positively associated with values that promote conservation of the social order (e.g., tradition and conformity). Based on this evidence, I expect that religious individuals will hold more negative attitudes toward LGBTQ+ community members because religious individuals believe there is one right way to live (i.e., religious ethnocentrism) and because gender role violations (e.g., cross dressing) represent violations of tradition and conformity (Schwartz, 2012).