Researchers who studied attitudes towards non-heterosexual men and women suggested that in 23 countries gay men are less “accepted” than lesbian women.
In the research of a group of scientists from New York University published in the journal Social Psychology and Personality Science, “We found that in every country we tested, gays were less attracted to lesbians.”
Director of the study, Maria Laura Bettinsoli, together with her teammates, expressed their surprise that “the consistency of the relationship between the acceptance of gender norms and sexual bias is unexpected”.
The study also found that strong gender norms were associated with higher tolerance for homosexuality in some Eastern countries, including China and India as an exception.
In these Eastern countries, it was seen that “gender norms and homosexuality are perceived as ‘Western concepts’ and that pro-Western people approach both positively”.
“Men are both perpetrators and targets of sexual prejudice”
According to the scientists, the findings of the study show that men are “more likely to be perpetrators and targets of sexual bias.”
Brazil, China, Hungary, Japan, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Africa, attitudes toward sexual minorities is in North Korea and Turkey more negative than in the US.
At the end of the study, the researchers said, “This study should be a springboard for research focused on the conceptualization of gender and sexuality in poorly educated societies and how they are conceptualized in the Western world.”