Heterosexuals' attitudes toward bisexual men and women in the United States

Journal of Sex Research, Nov, 2002 by Gregory M. Herek

2. Religious and political correlates: Heterosexuals will express more negative attitudes to the extent that they are politically conservative and highly religious.

3. Psychological correlates: Heterosexuals will express more negative attitudes to the extent that they manifest characteristics consistent with psychological authoritarianism and hold traditional attitudes concerning gender and sexual behavior.

4. Contact correlates: Heterosexuals will express more negative attitudes to the extent that they lack previous contact with other sexual minorities (viz., lesbians or gay men).

PROCEDURES

The data were collected in a 1999 national telephone survey that focused primarily on HIV-related stigma. It was the second of two surveys in an ongoing study of AIDS and stigma in the United States. (4)

Sample

Roughly one half of the respondents (n = 666) had participated in a previous survey conducted in 1997 and consented to be recontacted for a follow-up interview. The remaining respondents (n = 669) were interviewed for the first time in the 1999 survey. For both groups, the sampling frame was the population of English-speaking adults (at least 18 years of age) residing in households with telephones in the 48 contiguous states. The two samples are described separately below. Sampling and interview procedures are described in greater detail elsewhere (Herek, 2002; Herek, Capitanio, & Widaman, 2002).

Follow-up Sample

Of the 1,197 participants in the original 1997 survey who had expressed willingness to be contacted at a later date for a follow-up interview, calls were attempted to a randomly selected subgroup of 876. Eliminating those who were deceased, unable to participate in the interview, or otherwise ineligible left 854 potential respondents. Follow-up interviews were successfully completed with 666 participants (78%). The remaining respondents were never located (11%), could not be reached at home (2%), or refused (9%). The follow-up sample was 57% female and 81% non-Hispanic White, with a mean age of 47 years (range = 20-91), a median educational level of some college (without a degree), and a median income of $40,000 to $50,000. Comparison of the original and follow-up samples revealed that respondents in the 1997 sample had slightly lower educational and income levels and were somewhat more likely to be non-White than respondents in the 1999 sample.

New Sample

As in the 1997 survey, a list-assisted random-digit dialing (RDD) procedure was used to create the new sample (Casady & Lepkowski, 1993). This method resulted in 1,153 eligible households. Upon reaching an adult, the interviewer enumerated the first name of each person 18 years or older living in the household. The target respondent was selected at random from the household list. Interviews were fully or substantially completed with 669 individuals, yielding a final response rate of 58% (using Response Rate Formula 2, American Association for Public Opinion Research, 1998). Demographically, the new RDD sample closely resembled the follow-up sample. It was 55% female and 82% non-Hispanic White, with a median educational level of some college and a median income of $40,000 to $50,000. On average, respondents in the new sample were 2 years younger than the follow-up sample (for the new sample, M = 45 years, range = 18-89), reflecting the passage of time since the follow-up sample was originally recruited.