Related sexual bias with fictional gay characters: A comparison between samples from El Salvador and the United Kingdom

Abstract

A strategy to reduce the prejudice of one social group towards another is the use of fictional stories. This form of indirect contact stands out as an alternative when direct contact is not feasible, either due to lack of opportunity for a meeting or because it entails risks for the parties involved. The objective of this study was to compare levels of sexual prejudice in heterosexual participants who saw or read a story with gay characters and those who imagined an encounter with a gay person or a stranger. Through an  experimental design, the hypothesis that sexual prejudice (high prejudice or low prejudice) would vary depending on the history (fictional or imagined) and the country of origin of the participants (El Salvador or the United Kingdom) was tested. . Compared to participants from the UK, participants from El Salvador scored significantly lower on Social Dominance, higher on Authoritarianism and Heterosexual Identification, and reported lower according to the legal unions of same-sex couples. No association was found between these factors and sexual prejudice scores. Possible explanations for these results and future directions for the use of narratives in reducing prejudice towards sexual minorities are discussed.