The Attitudes of Undergraduate College Students Toward Gay Parenting

Abstract

A sample of undergraduate college students from a large midwestern university (N = 97) read one of four vignettes describing a couple interested in adopting a five-year-old African-American male child. Participants completed questionnaires that assessed their reactions to the couple described in the vignette. The vignettes were identical except that the couples' ethnicity was either African-American, Caucasian, or inter-racial (i.e., African-American and Caucasian) or their sexual orientation was either homosexual or heterosexual. Results indicate that subjects who rated the homosexual couple were more likely to view them as creating a dangerous environment for the child, to create a more insecure home, to be more emotionally unstable, and to be less likely to be awarded custody of the child than the heterosexual couples. Participants who were more theistic, irrationally worried, and tense were more likely to hold negative attitudes toward the gay couple. Recommendations for promoting attitude change toward gay/lesbian parenting is also presented.