Selection Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation

Recent trends towards including sexual orientation as a protected characteristic in selection highlight the need for exploration of the antecedents of sexual orientation selection discrimination. A two-part model is proposed and tested. The first part o f the model replicates past literature that explored the antecedents of attitudes towards homosexuals, such as religiosity, sex role beliefs, beliefs about controllability of homosexuality, and previous exposure to homosexuals. The second part of the model tests moderators of the relationship between attitudes toward homosexuals and discrimination against homosexuals, as represented with a resume manipulation task. The model was tested using a sample of 236 undergraduates. All hypothesized antecedents significantly predicted attitudes toward homosexuals. Analyses of the attitude - discrimination relationship revealed a higher — order interaction: beliefs in the legality of discrimination, participant / target sex congruence, and target congruence to a masculinity / femininity stereotype interacted in the relationship. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.