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    The Invisible Stereotypes of Bisexual Men

    Zivony, Alon and Lobel, Thalma (2014) The Invisible Stereotypes of Bisexual Men. Archives of Sexual Behavior 76 , pp. 19-31. ISSN 0004-0002.

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    Abstract

    Bisexual men have little public visibility, yet previous reports indicate that heterosexuals have specific prejudicial attitudes towards them. This article reports on two studies that examined the stereotypical beliefs of heterosexual men and women regarding bisexual men. In Study 1 (n = 88), we examined awareness of social stereotypes (stereotype knowledge). Most of the participants were unable to describe the various stereotypes of bisexual men. Contrary to previous studies, low-prejudiced participants had more stereotype knowledge than high-prejudiced participants. In Study 2 (n = 232), we examined prejudice in a contextual evaluation task that required no stereotype knowledge. Participants evaluated a single target character on a first date: a bisexual man dating a heterosexual woman, a bisexual man dating a gay man, a heterosexual man dating a heterosexual woman, or a gay man dating a gay man. The findings indicated that participants implemented stereotypical beliefs in their evaluation of bisexual men: compared to heterosexual and gay men, bisexual men were evaluated as more confused, untrustworthy, open to new experiences, as well as less inclined towards monogamous relationships and not as able to maintain a long-term relationship. Overall, the two studies suggest that the stereotypical beliefs regarding bisexual men are prevalent, but often not acknowledged as stereotypes. In addition, the implementation of stereotypes in the evaluations was shown to be dependent on the potential romantic partner of the target. Possible theoretical explanations and implications are discussed.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    Additional Information: The final publication is available at Springer via the link above.
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences
    Depositing User: Alon Zivony
    Date Deposited: 13 Mar 2020 09:36
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 17:58
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/31300

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