Social Support for Victims of Homophobic Bullying Through Audiovisual Narratives in Brazil

Abstract This study uses audiovisual narratives to investigate adolescents’ responses to homophobic bullying of Brazilian gay boys. It explores how the gender expression (conforming vs non-conforming) and sexual orientation (gay vs heterosexual) of the victims influence viewers’ support. A sample of Brazilian adolescents ( n = 178; 11—16 years-old, M = 13.7, SD = 1.6; 50% girls, 50% boys) watched two out of four custom-made narratives with different combinations of the victim’s gender expression and sexual orientation. Immediately after the narratives, participants recorded video selfies, explaining who they would prefer to support supporter and the reasons. The most significant results reveal that the participants mostly preferred helping the gender conforming heterosexual character, especially the boys (93.1%). Additionally, the participants preferred to help the gender non-conforming heterosexual character (66.1%) over the gender conforming gay, with no differences based on the gender of the participant. However, when both characters were heterosexual, such decisions were not moderated by gender. Moreover, the participants primarily justified their decisions based on their identification with the characters. The findings can inform policies, education programs, and the development of audiovisual narratives to combat homophobic bullying, highlighting their value for schools and educational research.