Effects of Socioeconomic Status on Homophobia in the United States

Abstract

This thesis builds on existing literature examining how characteristics like religion, race, and education affect perceptions of gay people by examining the relationship between socioeconomic status and homophobia. I test the hypothesis that less income is associated with less tolerance of homosexuality due to the time constraints and geographic concentration associated with poverty and a lack of LGBTQIA+ and low-income representation in American media and culture. Using data from the General Social Survey from 1973-2018 in a multiple regression model, I find a small, statistically significant, negative relationship between income and homophobia. My results also confirm earlier findings that women tend to be more tolerant of homosexuality than men and Jewish people and people of no religion tend to be more tolerant than people of other religious groups across several subgroup analyses. Though Democrats tend to be more tolerant than Independents and white respondents tend to be more tolerant than Black respondents, this is not always the case across subgroups — especially when homosexuality is framed as a civil rights rather than a moral issue. By better understanding the root cause of homophobia in the United States, policymakers and LGBTQIA+ advocates can sharpen political messaging to help reduce social barriers faced by queer people.