Adolescents' Beliefs About the Nature of Gender and Sexual Orientation: The Role of Essentialist Thinking in Intergroup Attitudes and Peer Relations

• In Event: Poster Session 7
  In Poster Session: Gender and Identity: Links to Adjustment

Abstract

What do adolescents believe about the nature of gender and sexual orientation? And do these beliefs shape intergroup behavior? In two studies, urban, ethnically diverse 6th-8th graders rated whether people are born LGBT or whether gender and sexual orientation can be changed and reported on their intergroup behavior. Consistent with the essentialism framework (Haslam et al., 2000), in Study 1(N=108), adolescents who believed people are born LGBT expressed greater willingness to intervene in gender- and sexual orientation-based bullying. In Study 2(N=1963), adolescents who perceived sexual orientation and gender as least malleable reported more favorable intergroup attitudes and behavior. This work enhances our understanding of key factors that contribute to risk and resilience of ethnically diverse LGBT adolescents in urban middle schools.

Author

• Negin Ghavami, University of California - Los Angeles