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Negative Attitudes to Lesbians and Gay Men: Persecutors and Victims

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Emotional, Physical and Sexual Abuse

Abstract

Negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men widespread in multiple spheres including mass media, politics, public institutions, pseudoscientific contexts, and interpersonal relationships can be very distressing and sometimes unbearable for the victims. The adoption of the term “homophobia” [Weinberg (Society and the healthy homosexual, 1972)], although it is not entirely satisfactory, can be considered a milestone in Social Sciences because it marked the transition of scientific paradigm from homosexuality (and its “causes”) to antigay hostility (and its causes). For clinical and research purposes, it is important to consider the role of prejudice in affecting psychological well-being and producing minority stress in gay people and their families. At the same time, a comprehensive understanding of sexual prejudice as a form of abuse is necessary to develop prevention policies and practices (e.g., against homophobic bullying) and to avoid antigay biases and secondary victimization (e.g., in the clinical settings). Some tools for the assessment of both explicit and implicit sexual prejudice (both in straight and gay people) will be briefly discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via degli Apuli 1, Roma, 00185, Italy

    Vittorio Lingiardi & Nicola Nardelli

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  1. Vittorio Lingiardi
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  2. Nicola Nardelli
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Correspondence to Vittorio Lingiardi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Department; Endocrinology Unit, Maggiore-Bellaria Hospital, Azienda-Usl Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Giovanni Corona

  2. Department of System Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy

    Emmanuele A. Jannini

  3. Sexual Medicine and Andrology Unit, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

    Mario Maggi

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Lingiardi, V., Nardelli, N. (2014). Negative Attitudes to Lesbians and Gay Men: Persecutors and Victims. In: Corona, G., Jannini, E., Maggi, M. (eds) Emotional, Physical and Sexual Abuse. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06787-2_3

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