This document contains a systematic review/essay/paper for the course Youth and Sexuality for Interdisciplinary Social Science in the 2nd/3rd year. The theme of this review/essay/paper is: The effects of the media representation of LGBT individuals on the attitudes of heterosexuals towards LGBT ind...
RUNNING HEAD: LGBT MEDIA REPRESENTATION AND ATTITUDES OF
HETEROSEUXALS
The effects of the media representation of LGBT individuals on
the attitudes of heterosexuals towards LGBT individuals
A systematic review study
, LGBT MEDIA REPRESENTATION AND ATTITUDES OF HETEROSEUXALS 2
Despite the fact that discrimination against LGBT individuals (lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender) has declined in recent years, it still occurs regularly. On the contrary, there is
also an increasing approval for equality of LGBT individuals by heterosexuals. This manifests
itself in a supportive attitude towards issues LGBT individuals have to deal with (Craig &
McInroy, 2014; Bond & Compton, 2015). However, little is known about how these attitudes
towards the LGBT are being constructed (Calzo & Ward, 2009). Researchers have identified
media as a factor that may alleviate homophobia while boosting the approval of LGBT
individuals (Bond & Compton, 2015). Media are also often used by youth and seen as an
important source for information about sex (Balzo & Ward, 2009). Since media is an
important source for youth and could decrease homophobia while increasing the approval, this
study explores the influence of media representation of LGBT individuals on the attitudes of
heterosexual youth towards LGBT individuals.
Method
In order to study the effects of media representation on attitudes towards LGBT
individuals relevant articles concerning this topic were carefully selected for the literature
review. Only quantitative articles were included in the study, and no review articles were
selected. The articles were found through several search engines and search terms, and aside
from one article only studies from 2007 and up were used. During the search for relevant
articles two distinct themes were found. One section of articles focused on the effects of
media on the attitudes of LGBT individuals themselves, and the other section focused on the
attitudes of non-LGBT individuals towards LGBT individuals. Since this study focuses on the
second theme, only articles that apply to this were selected by careful reading of the titles and
abstract of relevant studies. Using Worldcat the search terms “Media exposure AND attitudes
AND lgbt” resulted in 175 hits, of which one article was relevant for this study. A second
article was found through the references list of the first article. Using Worldcat with the
search terms “Media exposure AND attitudes towards homosexuality” resulted in 374 hits, of
which two articles were selected. Furthermore, using Web of Science with the search terms
”media exposure AND attitudes AND lgbt” 4 hits were found, of which one study was
relevant for this review. Using Tandofonline with the search terms ”media role models AND
gay” 638 hits were found, of which two articles were selected. Lastly, using Semantics
Scholar with the search terms “LGBTQ youth portayal AND media '' resulted in 2030 hits, of
which one relevant article was selected for this study.
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