A new study has found a link between people with homophobic attitudes and a repressed attraction to the same-sex. Researchers based at universities in New York, California and Essex claim this is brought about by controlling parents who themselves hold negative attitudes towards gay and lesbian people. University of Rochester psychology professor Richard Ryan, co-author of the study, says the research highlights how many homophobic people are “at war” with themselves and “turning the internal conflict outward”. "[Those] who have a discrepancy within themselves about their expressed vs. unconscious sexual attraction find gay and lesbian people more threatening and are more likely to express prejudice and discrimination toward them,” Ryan said. “If you come from a controlling home where your parents do have negative attitudes toward gays and lesbians, you're even more likely to suppress same-sex attraction and more likely to have this discrepancy that leads to having homophobia and feeling threatened.” Read more here
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 11th April 2012 - 9:57am