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Inventing a Gay Agenda: Students' Perceptions of Lesbian and Gay Professors 1
Author(s) -
ANDERSON KRISTIN J.,
KANNER MELINDA
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00757.x
Subject(s) - lesbian , syllabus , psychology , sexual orientation , perception , competence (human resources) , human sexuality , social psychology , ideology , politics , homosexuality , gender studies , pedagogy , sociology , psychoanalysis , political science , law , neuroscience
Students' perceptions of lesbian and gay professors were examined in 2 studies ( N s = 622 and 545). An ethnically diverse sample of undergraduates read and responded to a syllabus for a proposed Psychology of Human Sexuality course. Syllabuses varied according to the political ideology, carefulness, sexual orientation, and gender of the professor. Students rated professors on dimensions such as political bias, professional competence, and warmth. Lesbian and gay professors were rated as having a political agenda, compared to heterosexual professors with the same syllabus. Student responses differed according to their homonegativity and modern homonegativity scores. The findings from these studies suggest that students may use different criteria to evaluate lesbian, gay, and heterosexual professors' ability to approach courses objectively.