Leadership qualities may predict who defends against homophobic behaviors

Girls and sexual minorities are more likely to take a stand against observed homophobic bullying, compared with other students, according to data presented recently at the American Educational Research Association annual meeting in Chicago. 

“To aid in developing effective programs to counter homophobic behavior, research must attend to the broader context in which it occurs and to the various roles of students as part of this social issue,” V. Paul Poteat, PhD, associate professor at the Lynch School of Education, Boston College, said during an AERA presentation. “Active bystanders stand to have a major role in reducing homophobic behavior and in establishing respectful school norms inclusive of sexual minorities.”

Poteat and Olivier Vecho, PhD, Université Paris Ouest, surveyed 722 students (representing 90% of the student population) from a New England high school to assess how often students intervened when witnessing homophobic behaviors.

In addition to reporting on their race, sexual orientation and number of close lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) friends, participants completed several scales from the International Personality Item Pool. They included scales for leadership, courage, altruism and observer sensitivity. Finally, students reported on how often they saw or heard homophobic behavior, and if they had seen any, how often they became involved. The defender scale conveyed how students became involved, such as supporting the targeted student, confronting the instigating student and reporting the incident to an adult. 

Overall, 66.8% of participants had witnessed at least one homophobic incident in the past 30 days. While no significant difference was seen in gender, students who were sexual minorities reported seeing more homophobic behavior, compared with heterosexual students.

Among students who had witnessed homophobic behaviors, 77.7% said they had engaged in some sort of defensive tactic. Girls (P < .01) and sexual minorities (P < .001) were more likely to defend against homophobic behaviors, compared with boys and heterosexual students. 

Students who reported defending behavior against homophobic bullying had higher leadership, courage, altruism, and justice sensitivity scores and a greater number of LGBT friends.

“It is important for psychologists, educators and interventionists to understand youth who serve as active bystanders and defenders against homophobic behavior in order to identify how best to work with them in efforts to create respectful norms and to promote safer schools,” Poteat and Vecho wrote. “The current findings point to several individual qualities for adults to cultivate through various discussions and activities comprising these programs and informally through daily interactions.” – by Casey Hower

Reference:

Poteat VP, et al. Who Intervenes Against Homophobic Behavior? Attributes that Distinguish Active Bystanders. Presented at: the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting; April 16-20, 2015; Chicago.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.