Men are prejudiced against homosexuals
because homosexuality is a threat
to the norm of heterosexual relationships
in which men are dominant over women
(Hamilton, 2007). Homophobia is most prominent
among men during the teen years.
Gender-related traits and gender-role
attitudes are associated with attitudes toward
homosexuality. People who score high on
instrumental traits have more favorable attitudes
toward homosexuality, whereas people
who scored high on hypermasculinity (extreme
masculinity) have more negative attitudes
toward homosexuality (Whitley, 2001).
People who have traditional gender-role attitudes
and score high on modern sexism and
benevolent sexism possess the most negative
attitudes toward homosexuality. Again, this is
not surprising because homosexual behavior
is a threat to traditional beliefs about women’s
and men’s roles. Men also are less tolerant of
homosexuality compared to women because
the male gender role is more narrowly defined
than the female gender role. Violation of the
male gender role has more negative consequences
because it has a higher status in our
society, so there is more to lose by violating it