The relationships between homophobic attitudes and religiosity among Turkish physical education teacher majors

Background: The American Psychiatric Association (APA) removed homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders in 1973. However, homosexuals face continuous discrimination in society. Studies have been conducted on societal attitudes toward homosexuals, and most of this research has focused on factors such as gender, educational level, religious beliefs, contact experiences, and type of occupation. This study attempts to analyze physical education teacher education candidates' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men as well as to explore any possible relationships between their level of religiousness and these attitudes. Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and the level of religiousness among Turkish physical education teacher majors. Participants: Participants were 78 female (M-age = 21.12 +/- 2.24) and 95 male (M-age = 22.32 +/- 2.19) undergraduate students enrolled in the physical education teacher education program for the 2010-2011 academic year. Data collection and analysis: The Turkish version of the Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale (short form) was used to measure students' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. In addition, the Religiosity Scale was used to assess students' beliefs toward Islam. A one-way between-groups multivariate analysis of variance and a paired-samples t-test were conducted to analyze differences in variables, and a Pearson product-moment correlation was used to assess relationships between variables. Results: There was a significant difference between the attitudes of male and female students toward gay men. Male students hold more negative attitudes toward gay men than female students. Male and female students' attitudes toward lesbians and their religiosity levels were comparable. In addition, the results demonstrated significant intra-group differences in the attitudes of male students toward lesbian and gay men. Unlike the attitudes of females, who demonstrated comparative attitudes, the attitudes of males toward lesbians were significantly more positive than toward gay men. There was no significant difference between first-, second-, third-, and fourth-year students in their attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Lastly, the results of the correlation analyses demonstrated a positive relationship between students' religiosity level and their negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Conclusions: Physical education teacher majors in Turkey have negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Gender differences and religiosity level, unlike year of school, have an impact on the students' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. These findings reveal the importance of the inclusion of issues related to diverse populations in teacher training programs, which will decrease these negative attitudes.