Beliefs And Attitudes Of Lesbians,Gays And Heterosexuals Toward Child Rearing In Same-sex Families

Although many previous studies have shown that children raised by same-sex parents are not significantly different from children raised by opposite-sex parents in any significant way,many people believe that same-sex parenting has negative psychological and social effects on children.This study explores the beliefs and attitudes of Chinese lesbians,gays and heterosexuals towards children’s development in same-sex families and same-sex parenting,as well as some influencing factors.The scales we used to measure these two attitudes each contained two meaningful subscales.The former includes individual opposition and normative opposition subscales.The individual opposition subscales emphasize direct and traditional beliefs about the psychological development of children from same-sex families,while the normative opposition subscales emphasize subtle and modern negative beliefs based on heterosexuality,that children raised by same-sex parents will experience social problems such as social isolation and bullying because of their identity.The latter includes parenting skills and parenting adjustment subscales.The parenting skills and parenting adjustment subscales are concerned with two attitudes toward same-sex parenting,the former focusing on whether same-sex parents themselves are qualified as parents,and the latter focusing on whether same-sex parents can handle challenges related to their own family pattern(same-sex parents’ family).Study 1 aims to explore the influence of Chinese lesbians and gays’ internalized homonegativity,social support,beliefs about the etiology of homosexuality(as either learned or genetic)and ambivalent sexism(benevolent and hostile)on their beliefs and attitudes about children’s development in same-sex families and same-sex parenting.The results of 256 lesbians and 490 gays indicated that respondents who were male,higher levels of internalized homonegativity and tend to attributing homosexual orientation to learning had stronger individual and normative opposition on children’s development in same-sex families.The respondents’ benevolent sexism predicted their stronger normative opposition,while the hostile sexism predicted their stronger individual opposition.Respondents who have lower levels of internalized homonegativity,were tend to attributing homosexual orientation to genetic and have weaker normative opposition have more positive parenting skills and parenting adjustment beliefs and attitudes about same-sex parenting.Lesbians and gays’ weaker individual opposition predicted their more positive parenting skills beliefs and attitudes about same-sex parenting.The results of study 1 don’t support the direct influence of Chinese lesbians and gays’ social support on their beliefs and attitudes about same-sex parenting.However,considering the closely connection of internalized homonegativity and social support,study 2 examined whether social support affected beliefs and attitudes towards children’s development in same-sex families and same-sex parenting through internalized homonegativity.We used structural equation modeling(SEM)with Mplus8.3 to test the serial mediating model.The results confirmed the hypothesis that serial mediating effect exists: the lower degree of social support of lesbians and gays leads to a higher degree of internalized homonegativity,which in turn leads to more negative beliefs about children’s development in same-sex families,and finally leads to negative beliefs and attitude towards same-sex parenting.Study 3 collected data on 654 heterosexuals,including 266 male and 388 female participants,and compared it with data on lesbians and gays,all variables in the data of heterosexuals were consistent with or equivalent to those in the data of homosexuals.Except that the internalized homonegativity variable was equivalent to homonegativity in heterosexuals.,all other variables were measured using the same scale.Results for all participants found that there was no too much difference between homosexuals and heterosexuals in the effect of each independent variable on the dependent variable.In general,respondents who were male,heterosexual,have more negative attitude towards homosexuals,tend to attributing homosexual orientation to learning,have stronger ambivalent sexism are more likely to believe that same-sex parents have negative impact on children’s development and have more negative attitude towards same-sex parenting.There was no significant correlation between the social support of heterosexuals and their beliefs and attitudes.This result highlights the important influence of the social support of lesbians and gays.All participants,regardless of sexual orientation and gender,had stronger individual opposition than normative opposition,and stronger negative parenting skills attitudes than parenting adjustment.In conclusion,This study gets the following conclusions:(1)in general,respondents who were male,heterosexual,have more negative attitude towards homosexuals,tend to attributing homosexual orientation to learning,have stronger ambivalent sexism are more likely to believe that same-sex parents have negative impact on children’s development and have more negative attitude towards same-sex parenting.(2)The social support of lesbians and gays influences their attitudes towards children’s development in same-sex families and same-sex parenting by internalizing homonegativity.(3)Chinese lesbians,gays and heterosexuals still hold relatively conservative and direct beliefs on children’s development in same-sex families and same-sex parenting,which indicates that participants believe that the parents of children should be a mother and a father,and that both of them are indispensable and irreplaceable.These findings add to our knowledge of people’s attitudes toward same-sex parenting and,in particular,complement the data on homosexuals in China,which is crucial to research in this area.Behind these attitudes,we believe that the lack of relevant laws and policies and the lack of understanding of relevant scientific research and knowledge play an important negative role.It was therefore essential to formulate laws and policies aimed at reducing prejudice and discrimination and protecting the rights of sexual minorities.This would not only improve attitudes towards same-sex parents,but also help promote gender equality and improve the social safety net.In addition,social media should enhance the dissemination of accurate scientific knowledge about homosexuality and same-sex parenting through public service announcements and educational programs,as increasing awareness is key to changing attitudes.