Thread by @Sakiera_Hudson

@dylanrrice ‘s paper has a fancy new internet address !!! Whoooo!!!!!

https://twitter.com/easpinfo/status/1407959005625004035

This project started with Dylan's honor thesis. He ran Studies 1, 2A, and 3A as an undergrad, and Studies 2B and 3B were added when we decided to publish this. Folks thought he was wild to do a *five* study thesis but it has certainly paid off! 2/n

In 5 studies, we investigated the content of sexual health-related stereotypes of gay men, lesbian women, and straight women and men and the impact of these beliefs on discriminatory behaviors towards gay men and lesbian women. 3/n

In study 1 we explicitly asked people to rank gay and straight men and women according to who were
most (to least) likely to engage in risky sexual behavior, acquire HIV, and have STIs. Participants also indicated how promiscuous they thought each of these groups were. 4/n

People saw gay men as the group most likely to engage in risky sex and have STIs/HIV but there was no difference in participants’ perceptions of gay and straight men’s promiscuity. Conversely, it was straight women who were more associated with HIV/STIs than lesbian women. 5/n

In studies 2A and 2B, we assessed these associations implicitly using IATs and open-ended responses. Participants spontaneously described gay men with the words “STDs”/“STIs,” “promiscuity,” and “HIV/AIDS,” more frequently than all other groups. 6/n

Participants also more strongly associated promiscuity and STIs with both gay men and lesbian women than their straight counterparts on the IATs. The implicit associations between promiscuity and STIs were roughly
twice as strong for gay men as for lesbian women. 7/n

Finally, in studies 3A/3B, we manipulated the sexual orientation and the sexual nature of disease in a funding allocation task, expecting people would allocate the least amount of funding to, and report the most prejudice toward, gay men and lesbian women patients with STIs. 8/n

Some thoughts about our findings, specifically about gay men and lesbian women's stereotypes: Results of Studies 1, 2A, & 2B suggest that sexual health stereotypes of lesbian women differ from gay men, but the nature of these stereotypes might depend on the comparison set. 9/n

For example, if the comparison set includes only lesbian and straight women, lesbian women may be viewed
as “women who are gay”, whereas if the comparison set additionally includes gay and straight men, lesbian women may be viewed as “gay people who are women”. 10/n

We asked whether stereotypes associated with gay men are also associated with lesbian women. We did not ask whether stereotypes associated with lesbian women also associated with gay men. We hope future research continues to investigate these questions 11/n

All in all, this research suggests that sexual health stereotypes are prevalent in society and might underpin the healthcare barriers and health disparities faced by gay men and lesbian women. 12/12