Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

The present study examined how gender, contact, and religiosity influence sexual prejudice in Muslims. Given that the preponderance of research examining attitudes toward gay men and lesbian women has been conducted with Judeo-Christian populations, research exploring sexual prejudice in Muslim individuals is warranted. Social Identity Theory was used as a theoretical framework to explore these factors, as sexual prejudice has been linked with both gender role and moral transgressions. The final sample consisted of 166 heterosexual Muslims, and 12 non-heterosexual Muslims collected through a snowball sample. Participants completed the Multidimensional Scale of Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men, the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire, Social Desirability Scale-17, a contact measure, and a demographic questionnaire. All measures were translated into Arabic. Consistent with prior research, men reported higher levels of prejudice than women, and this prejudice was higher toward gay men compared to lesbian women. Higher levels of religiosity predicted higher levels of sexual prejudice for both men and women. Contrary to our predictions that contact with sexual minorities would moderate the relationship between religiosity and prejudice, we found that gender played a moderating role, whereby religiosity had a significantly stronger effect on womens prejudice compared to mens. Additionally, results also suggest a differential effect of gender and contact. Those who reported more frequent and positive contact with gay men and lesbian women had more positive attitudes compared to those who did not have this contact; however, contact was more influential in decreasing womens prejudice than mens. The current research will contribute to the understanding of factors that influence sexual prejudice within Islam and shed light on the heterogeneity of attitudes within this group of individuals. Furthermore, the findings from this study may help inform efforts to decrease sexual prejudice and increase awareness, advocacy, and future research within Islam.

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