Interpersonal contact and beliefs about homosexuality: scale development

The aim of this study was to create a scale to measure the beliefs held by Brazilian college students about gay and lesbian behaviors. In addition, the relationships between beliefs about homosexuality and one’s interpersonal relationship with gays and lesbians were analyzed. Participants included 442 college students, 42.5% men (n=188) and 57.5% women (n=254), with a mean age at 21.6 years (SD = 4.0). The instrument was a questionnaire composed by 29 items rated on a five-point Likert scale about gay and lesbian behaviors. The results indicate that women reported having more friendships with homosexuals than men (Z = 4.69; p<0.001). Factor analyses showed revealed a three factors model: negative representation of gays and lesbians (α=.89); positive representation (α=.69); and within group differences of gays and lesbians (α=.69), explaining 45.7% of the variance. Men scored higher in the first factor and lower in the second, compared to women. There was no significant difference in the third factor. It was found that interpersonal contact is negatively correlated to negative beliefs about gays and lesbians. Keywords: sexual orientation; prejudice; interpersonal contact.