Synonyms
Definition
An umbrella term for a negative (attitudinal, affective, or behavioral) response towards homosexuality and homosexuals
Introduction
The impact of the genetic makeup on homophobia and its interplay with environmental factors have been neglected for a long time, because social factors were conceived as purely environmental (e.g., parental socialization) and thought to be the key contributors to the development of attitudes, prejudices, and discriminatory behavior towards homosexuals. The shifts in the scientific paradigms and the subsequent (re-)emergence of biological and genetic hypotheses have led to studies demonstrating genetic influences.
Evidence for a genetic contribution to homophobia comes from behavior genetic studies. For example, a study on 4,688 Australian twins, who completed a questionnaire concerning sexual behavior and attitudes towards homosexuals, found 36 % of individual differences in homophobic attitudes to be...
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References
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Acknowledgement
The authors received support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft KA 4088/2-1.
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Zapko-Willmes, A., Kandler, C. (2016). Genetic Hypotheses of Homophobia. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3378-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3378-1
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