Religiosity, Religious Fundamentalism, Heterosexism, and Support for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights: A Moderated Mediation Approach
Support for lesbian and gay (LG) civil rights has increased in recent decades, but heterosexism is still prevalent, particularly among highly religious populations. Evidence suggests, however, that it may not be affiliation, but rather conviction in one’s beliefs that relates to prejudicial attitude...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/4/174 |
| _version_ | 1797434216954200064 |
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| author | Richard S. Henry Paul B. Perrin Erin R. Smith |
| author_facet | Richard S. Henry Paul B. Perrin Erin R. Smith |
| author_sort | Richard S. Henry |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Support for lesbian and gay (LG) civil rights has increased in recent decades, but heterosexism is still prevalent, particularly among highly religious populations. Evidence suggests, however, that it may not be affiliation, but rather conviction in one’s beliefs that relates to prejudicial attitudes. The aims of this study were to examine the relationships among religiosity, heterosexism, and level of support for LG civil rights, as well as potential moderating effects by religious fundamentalism. This study used Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (Mturk) to recruit a U.S. national sample (<i>n</i> = 407) to participate in an online survey. A mediation model was constructed with religiosity leading to heterosexism, which diminished support for LG civil rights. This mediation model was expanded into moderated mediations with three types of religious fundamentalism as moderators. Heterosexism fully mediated the relationship between religiosity and support for LG civil rights. A moderated mediation was observed for aspects of religious fundamentalism reflecting external authority and worldly rejection (but not fixed religion) such that the mediation was present only when participants had high levels of these types of religious fundamentalism. Despite the belief that religious people endorse higher levels of heterosexism and that this influences their support for LG civil rights, this is only true when religiosity is also coupled with fundamentalist belief systems reflecting external authority and worldly rejection. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:29:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4c77d0e6ee164bbc8e8860d59640d5fb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:29:03Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-4c77d0e6ee164bbc8e8860d59640d5fb2023-12-01T21:24:39ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602022-04-0111417410.3390/socsci11040174Religiosity, Religious Fundamentalism, Heterosexism, and Support for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights: A Moderated Mediation ApproachRichard S. Henry0Paul B. Perrin1Erin R. Smith2Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284-2018, USADepartment of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284-2018, USADepartment of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284-2018, USASupport for lesbian and gay (LG) civil rights has increased in recent decades, but heterosexism is still prevalent, particularly among highly religious populations. Evidence suggests, however, that it may not be affiliation, but rather conviction in one’s beliefs that relates to prejudicial attitudes. The aims of this study were to examine the relationships among religiosity, heterosexism, and level of support for LG civil rights, as well as potential moderating effects by religious fundamentalism. This study used Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (Mturk) to recruit a U.S. national sample (<i>n</i> = 407) to participate in an online survey. A mediation model was constructed with religiosity leading to heterosexism, which diminished support for LG civil rights. This mediation model was expanded into moderated mediations with three types of religious fundamentalism as moderators. Heterosexism fully mediated the relationship between religiosity and support for LG civil rights. A moderated mediation was observed for aspects of religious fundamentalism reflecting external authority and worldly rejection (but not fixed religion) such that the mediation was present only when participants had high levels of these types of religious fundamentalism. Despite the belief that religious people endorse higher levels of heterosexism and that this influences their support for LG civil rights, this is only true when religiosity is also coupled with fundamentalist belief systems reflecting external authority and worldly rejection.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/4/174gaylesbianheterosexismreligiosityfundamentalismlegal rights |
| spellingShingle | Richard S. Henry Paul B. Perrin Erin R. Smith Religiosity, Religious Fundamentalism, Heterosexism, and Support for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights: A Moderated Mediation Approach Social Sciences gay lesbian heterosexism religiosity fundamentalism legal rights |
| title | Religiosity, Religious Fundamentalism, Heterosexism, and Support for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights: A Moderated Mediation Approach |
| title_full | Religiosity, Religious Fundamentalism, Heterosexism, and Support for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights: A Moderated Mediation Approach |
| title_fullStr | Religiosity, Religious Fundamentalism, Heterosexism, and Support for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights: A Moderated Mediation Approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Religiosity, Religious Fundamentalism, Heterosexism, and Support for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights: A Moderated Mediation Approach |
| title_short | Religiosity, Religious Fundamentalism, Heterosexism, and Support for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights: A Moderated Mediation Approach |
| title_sort | religiosity religious fundamentalism heterosexism and support for lesbian and gay civil rights a moderated mediation approach |
| topic | gay lesbian heterosexism religiosity fundamentalism legal rights |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/4/174 |
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