Homophobia in universities in Mexico City

Abstract

This paper presents two studies. The first one assessed homophobia amongst individuals of different sex, political affiliation, contact with homosexual individuals, sexual orientation and religiosity. The second study compared homophobia amongst students from religious and non-religious colleges. Students were asked to answer printed questionnaires that collected data regarding homophobia, religiosity and general information. A non-probabilistic sample of college students participated in the studies (708 in the first study and 402 in the second). Results showed a direct correlation between homophobia and religiosity. Results also showed that homophobia scores were higher in male students, students with a conservative political orientation, heterosexual students and students who did not report having homosexual friends. Results showed that homophobia scores were higher in religious than in non-religious colleges. Results are discussed in terms of the necessity of understanding the causal processes involved in the findings.