The Association Between Active Membership in Voluntary Organizations and Homonegativity

TL;DR

This study explores how being active in voluntary organizations relates to negative attitudes toward homosexuality, finding that participation in certain groups is linked to lower homonegativity.

Contribution

The study reveals how specific voluntary activities correlate with reduced homonegativity, varying by gender and age.

Findings

Active participation in sports, professional, or educational organizations is negatively correlated with homonegativity in specific gender-age groups.

Demographic and socioeconomic factors, along with political freedom and life satisfaction, are linked to homonegativity levels.

The relationship between voluntary activity and homonegativity varies in strength across different groups.

Abstract

Objectives: Homonegativity adversely affects the health and well-being of homosexuals in society, making it vital to identify factors associated with it. This study investigates whether active membership in voluntary organizations correlates with homonegativity, examining how this varies by gender and age.

Methods: Using the World Values Survey data (2017-2022) from 87,777 participants in 63 countries, we performed binary logistic regression to assess relationships between homonegativity and factors including socioeconomic status, demographics, and voluntary activity participation.

Results: Our findings suggest that active membership in certain voluntary organizations correlates with homonegativity levels among both men and women across various age groups. Specifically, active participation in sports or recreational organizations, professional associations, art, music, or educational organizations, and humanitarian or charitable organizations was found to be negatively correlated with homonegativity in specific gender-age groups, albeit with varying degrees of association strength.

Conclusion: This study highlights the complex relationship between engagement in voluntary organizations and attitudes toward homosexuality, with significant differences observed across gender and age. While identifying a correlation rather than causation, this study suggests the importance of societal and community participation in fostering more tolerant views toward homosexuals. Furthermore, our analysis indicates that demographic and socioeconomic variables, the political freedom of the respondent's country, and the respondent's life satisfaction are also linked to homonegativity.