The effects of globalization on attitudes toward homosexuality
In this thesis, I examine the effects of globalization on attitudes toward homosexuality. First, I look at the shift in attitudes towards homosexuality in the U.S. as well as in other parts of the world; then I explore the relationship between globalization and variables, such as, religiosity, authoritarianism, politics, urbanism, and information technology. I conducted a survey to 305 undergraduate students in Introduction to Sociology classes at a southwestern state university that measured attitudes toward globalization as well as toward homosexuality. In this survey, variables are measured with some established instruments used by the General Social Survey along with some additional items suggested by the literature. Religiosity, race, class, gender, and urbanism are used as control variables. After conducting a factor analysis in order to reduce the number of variables, I found that certain factors of globalization do, in fact, affect attitudes toward homosexuality while others do not show statistical significance. Positive attitudes toward immigrants and immigration are found to show a statistically significant relationship with more tolerant attitudes toward homosexuality. Having experiences of travelling to a foreign country, having a homosexual family member, and reading materials that emphasize the benefits of globalization also show statistically significant relationships with more tolerant attitudes toward homosexuality. Implications of the findings are discussed.
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