Exploring Homophobia Among Metro Manila Males: Attitudes, Behaviors and Associated Factors

Abstract

Homophobia—the prejudice against homosexuals—continues to be a social problem, resulting in discrimination and violence, sometimes to the point of murder. It can also severely impact on a homosexual’s psychological well-being, by creating feelings of guilt, shame and worthlessness. Realizing the gravity of this issue, and the fact that there was a dearth of local literature on the subject matter, the author decided to embark on an exploratory study of homophobia. The study’s objectives included the determination and description of prevailing negative beliefs that males have about male homosexuality and male homosexuals, as well as some discriminatory acts that result from it; the assessment of the degree of individual homophobia among males; the determination of some factors associated with individual homophobia among males; and the use of the results of the study in devising ways of addressing the issue of homophobia. The sample consisted of 256 respondents who were males residing in Metro Manila and aged 16 to 64 years old. The main research tool was a questionnaire divided into two parts. The first part contained questions on socio-demographics and individual attitudes toward homosexuality, while the other contained a standardized homophobic scale that measured the respondent’s degree of individual homophobia. The sample was eventually divided into groups based on the variables under study, which were divided into two groups. One group, which the researcher termed socialization factors, pertained to aspects of the socialization process that were believed to be associated with individual homophobia and included religious affiliation, type of elementary school attended and educational attainment. The other group, termed familiarity factors, pertained to the nature of relations the respondent had with male homosexuals and included whether he had homosexual friends, how frequently he interacted with male homosexuals and whether he had an unpleasant experience with a male homosexual. To determine whether these variables had any association with the degree of individual homophobia, the homophobic scores of the different groups were compared. Because normality of the sample distribution was not assured, the non-parametric Mann- Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used, along with Pearson correlation. Results confirmed some, but not all, of the researcher’s hypotheses. The only variables that were found to be associated with the degree of individual homophobia were age, religious affiliation, frequency of churchgoing, educational attainment, friendly relations with male homosexuals and frequency of interaction with male homosexuals.