Attitudes Of University Students In Lebanon Towards Homosexuality

Attitudes Of University Students In Lebanon Towards Homosexuality Recently, almost all cultures have witnessed increasing trends in homosexuality. As a result, more and more organizations protecting gay, lesbian, and bisexual rights have emerged. One factor that seems to affect the emotional and social development of gays and lesbians is the attitudes of society toward them (Bowen Negy Landen Grapes, 2006). Studies conducted in the United States, Australia, Turkey, Hong Kong, Sweden and Canada have indicated that most attitudes towards gays and lesbians are negative in general (Negy Landen Hopwood Schellenberg, Hirt, Landen Hopwood Schellenberg, Hirt, Negy Landen Grapes, 2006; Jonathan, 2008). Because of the lack of empirical evidence on the attitudes in Lebanon towards gay men and lesbians, it is important that this study be conducted so as to set stable grounds for this issue. The purpose of this study was to measure the attitudes of undergraduate university students in Lebanon towards gay men and lesbians. Hopwood and Connors (2002) examined the attitudes of undergraduate students toward homosexuality at a university in Australia. The first hypothesis was that homophobic males were most likely to be religious and politically conservative. The second hypothesis stated that levels of homophobia would be more prevalent among business majors than humanities majors.