Examining the Links Between LGBTQ Attitudes, Personality, and Political Ideology

Objective: Attitudes toward LGBTQ communities have been a prominent feature of contemporary American politics; recently, more homophobic and transphobic sentiments have increasingly dominated the American political right. The present research seeks to better understand how individual differences relate to attitudes toward and perceived importance of LGBTQ issues. Method: Participants completed measures of Big Five personality and different political measures (including Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation, and political party preference). Participants also completed items assessing their general attitudes toward LGBTQ issues. Results: Although there were significant links between Big 5 personality traits and attitudes toward LGBTQ issues, these effects were mostly diminished or rendered non-significant once we account for the impact of political ideology.. Specifically, more concrete political ideologies (i.e., Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation), rather than political party identification, were more likely to be key associates of attitudes toward LGBTQ issues. Conclusion: This work offers future directions for research into the personality and ideological correlates of attitudes toward LGBTQ issues. Keywords: LGBTQ; Big Five; political ideology; right-wing authoritarianism; social dominance orientation.