Tolerance towards homosexuality in Europe: Population composition,economic affluence,religiosity,same-sex union legislation and HIV rates as explanations for country differences
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online July, 2014
Tolerance towards homosexuality in Europe: Population composition,economic affluence,religiosity,same-sex union legislation and HIV rates as explanations for country differences
This study aims to explain variation in the level of tolerance towards homosexuality between European countries. Results of multi-level regression analyses on 40 countries from the 2008 wave of the European Values Study show that countries’ economic affluence and laws on same-sex unions are positively associated with individuals’ tolerance towards homosexuality. An additional exercise suggests that the association between laws and attitudes may be the result of two-way causality; legislation seems to both shape and reflect levels of tolerance towards homosexuality. The study finds no independent association between tolerance and the level of religiosity in a country and refutes the hypothesis that high numbers of diagnosed HIV cases resulting from sex between men are negatively related to tolerance towards homosexuality in Europe.
AdamczykAPittC (2009) Shaping attitudes about homosexuality: The role of religion and cultural context. Social Science Research38(2): 338–351.
2.
AlwinDFKrosnickJA (1991) Aging, cohorts, and the stability of sociopolitical orientation over the life span. American Journal of Sociology97(1): 169–195.
3.
AndersenRFetnerT (2008a) Cohort differences in tolerance of homosexuality: Attitudinal change in Canada and the United States, 1981–2000. Public Opinion Quarterly72(2): 311–330.
4.
AndersenRFetnerT (2008b) Economic inequality and intolerance: Attitudes toward homosexuality in 35 democracies. American Journal of Political Science52(4): 942–958.
5.
BryanMLJenkinsSP (2013) Regression Analysis of Country Effects Using Multilevel Data: A Cautionary Tale. Colchester: Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex.
6.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control/World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (2010) HIV/AIDS Surveillance in Europe 2009. Stockholm: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
7.
EVS (2011) European Values Study 2008: Integrated Dataset (EVS 2008). GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. ZA4800 Data file Version 3.0.0.
8.
FernandezJJLutterM (2013) Supranational cultural norms, domestic value orientations and the diffusion of same-sex union rights in Europe, 1988–2009. International Sociology28(1): 102–120.
9.
GerhardsJ (2010) Non-discrimination towards homosexuality: The European Union’s policy and citizens’ attitudes towards homosexuality in 27 European countries. International Sociology25(1): 5–28.
10.
GrönforsMStalströmO (1987) Power, prestige, profit: AIDS and the oppression of homosexual people. Acta Sociologica30(1): 53–66.
11.
HalmanLDraulansV (2004) Religious beliefs and practices in contemporary Europe. In: ArtsWHalmanL (eds) European Values at the Turn of the Millennium. Leiden: Brill, pp. 283–316.
12.
HalmanLSiebenIVan ZundertM (2011) Atlas of European Values: Trends and Traditions at the Turn of the Century. Leiden: Brill.
13.
HerekGM (1999) AIDS and stigma. American Behavioral Scientist42(7): 1106–1116.
14.
HymanHHWrightCR (1979) Education’s Lasting Influence on Values. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
15.
InglehartR (1977) The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles among Western European Publics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
16.
InglehartRBakerWE (2000) Modernization, cultural change, and the persistence of traditional values. American Sociological Review65(1): 19–51.
17.
JaspersELubbersMDe GraafND (2007) ‘Horrors of Holland’: Explaining attitude change towards euthanasia and homosexuals in the Netherlands, 1970–1998. International Journal of Public Opinion Research19(4): 451–473.
18.
KelleyJ (2001) Attitudes towards homosexuality in 29 nations. Australian Social Monitor4(1): 15–24.
19.
KelleyJDe GraafND (1997) National context, parental socialization, and religious belief: Results from 15 nations. American Sociological Review62(4): 639–659.
20.
KiteMEWhitleyBE (1996) Sex differences in attitudes towards homosexual persons, behaviors and civil rights: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin22(4): 336–353.
21.
LoftusJ (2001) America’s liberalization in attitudes toward homosexuality, 1973 to 1998. American Sociological Review66(5): 762–782.
22.
MooreLMVannemanR (2003) Context matters: Effects of the proportion of fundamentalists on gender attitudes. Social Forces82(1): 115–139.
23.
OhlanderJBatalovaJTreasJ (2005) Explaining educational influences on attitudes toward homosexual relations. Social Science Research34(4): 781–799.
24.
PersellCHGreenAGurevichL (2001) Civil society, economic distress, and social tolerance. Sociological Forum16(2): 203–230.
25.
RuelECampbellRT (2006) Homophobia and HIV/AIDS: Attitude change in the face of an epidemic. Social Forces84(4): 2167–2178.
26.
ScottJ (1998) Changing attitudes towards sexual morality: A cross-national comparison. Sociology32(4): 815–845.
27.
SherkatDEPower-WilliamsMMaddoxGDe VriesKM (2011) Religion, politics, and support for same-sex marriage in the United States, 1988–2008. Social Science Research40(1): 167–180.
28.
SnijdersTABBoskerRJ (1999) Multilevel Analysis: An Introduction to Basic and Advanced Multilevel Modeling. London: Sage.
29.
United Nations (2011) World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision, CD ROM edn. New York: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division.
30.
Van de MeerendonkBScheepersP (2004) Denial of equal civil rights for lesbians and gay men in the Netherlands, 1980–1993. Journal of Homosexuality47(2): 63–80.
31.
Van den AkkerHVan der PloegRScheepersP (2012) Disapproval of homosexuality: Comparative research on individual and national determinants of disapproval of homosexuality in 20 European countries. International Journal of Public Opinion Research25(1): 64–86.
32.
VerbakelEJaspersE (2010) A comparative study on permissiveness toward euthanasia: Religiosity, slippery slope, autonomy, and death with dignity. Public Opinion Quarterly74(1): 109–139.
33.
WhitleyBE (2008) Religiosity and attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: A meta-analysis. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion19(1): 21–38.
34.
YipAKT (2005) Queering religious texts: An exploration of British non-heterosexual Christians’ and Muslims’ strategy of constructing sexuality-affirming hermeneutics. Sociology39(1): 47–65.
