PROXIMAL AND DISTAL PREDICTORS OF HOMOPHOBIA - FRAMING THE MULTIVARIATE ROOTS OF OUTGROUP REJECTION

A proximal-distal theoretical framework was developed to examine the m ultivariate roots of homophobia. Using data from a sample of 288 under graduates who had participated in a computer-assisted panel study over a three-year period, the effects on homophobia of distal and proximal family factors (e.g., parental education and family environment), dis tal and proximal individual factors (e.g., personality constructs and current beliefs), and proximal individual-situational factors (e.g., a cquaintance with homosexuals) were tested in regression analyses. Both analyses employing sets of variables varying in proximity to the homo phobic attitude and hierarchical regression employing variables contri buting significantly in each set supported the proposed framework. All sets predicted significantly when regressed separately on homophobia; the sets containing the distal factors contributed most weakly, and t he sets containing the proximal factors contributed most strongly. In hierarchical regression analysis, this pattern maintained such that th e incremental increase in r(2) decreased with the addition of each mor e distal set, with the most distal factors failing to contribute signi ficantly to the prediction. The importance of study findings for attit ude change efforts is discussed.