How do religious congregations affect congregants’ attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men?

Lefevor, G. Tyler; Sorrell, Sydney A.; Virk, Hibah E.; Huynh, Kiet D.; Paiz, Jacqueline Y.; Stone, William-Michael; Franklin, Alexis

doi:10.1037/rel0000290

Cited by 19 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…We challenge counseling psychologists to query beliefs and assumptions that they may hold about the homonegativity of Black churches and Black individuals. In particular, we have noted elsewhere (Lefevor et al, 2020;Lefevor, Sorrell, Virk et al, 2019) that many Black sexual minority individuals continue to affiliate religiously, which also challenges assumptions that Black individuals are more homonegative than other individuals.…”

Section: Clinical and Practice Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 86%

Homonegativity and the Black Church: Is Congregational Variation the Missing Link?

Lefevor

Paiz

Stone

et al. 2020

The Counseling Psychologist

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The Black church in the United States has historically functioned as a bastion for civil rights; however, it may also be a source of pain and suffering for sexual minorities. To examine the influence of individual and congregational variables on attitudes toward same-sex sexuality in the Black church, we collected a sample of 219 participants from 15 randomly selected congregations. Results of three hierarchical linear models indicated that congregation- and individual-level variables emerged as equally important predictors of individuals’ attitudes toward same-sex sexuality. Individual-level religiousness and congregation-level education emerged as significant predictors of homonegativity. Our results suggest that congregations may play a role in enacting homonegative attitudes. We encourage counseling psychologists working with religious Black sexual minority clients to help clients consider characteristics of congregations (e.g., education) and individual religious practices (e.g., overzealous service attendance) that may signal homonegativity. We encourage further work examining the influence of congregational factors on congregants’ attitudes.

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Section: Clinical and Practice Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 86%

Homonegativity and the Black Church: Is Congregational Variation the Missing Link?

Lefevor

Paiz

Stone

et al. 2020

The Counseling Psychologist

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“…We define homonegativity to be “negative attitudes toward sexual minorities congruent with the stigmatizing responses of society” (Herek, 2007), which may be different from negative attitudes or views toward same-sex sexual behaviors (Rosik, 2007). Various aspects of religiousness, such as scripture reading, service attendance, and intrinsic religiousness, have all been tied to homonegativity (Lefevor et al, 2019; Whitley, 2009). However, religious fundamentalism (Altemeyer & Hunsberger, 1992), authoritarianism (Whitley & Lee, 2000), and orthodoxy (Barnes, 2013) have relatively stronger relationships with homonegativity and that, when any of the three is statistically controlled for, the relationship between other aspects of religiousness and homonegativity largely disappears (Ford, Brignall, VanValey, & Macaluso, 2009; Rowatt et al, 2006).…”

Section: Religiousness and Homonegativitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because religion plays a significant role for a substantial segment of the American population, religious involvement can shape individuals’ perceptions, and make or unmake prejudice toward sexual minorities (Whitley, 2009). These attitudes toward lesbian and gay individuals (ATLG) may be enacted within religious organizations at several levels including by congregants within a congregation, by congregations as a social group with particular policies and procedures, and by clergy (Lefevor et al, 2019; Lefevor, Paiz, et al, 2020).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Because individual congregants together form a larger congregation, other congregants—as well as the dynamic of the congregation as a whole—hold influence over individual congregants. Congregational policies and procedures about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) individuals, congregational norms around religious devotion, and congregation-level demographic characteristics may impact individuals’ ATLG (Lefevor et al, 2019; Lefevor, Paiz, et al, 2020). Further, clergy may explain, debate, and disseminate information and ideas in ways that are accessible to large audiences and may influence congregants’ views (Neiheisel & Djupe, 2008; Toni-Uebari & Inusa, 2009).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Religiousness and homonegativity in congregations: The role of individual, congregational, and clergy characteristics.

Lefevor¹,

Milburn²,

Sheffield³

et al. 2023

Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

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Attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men (ATLG) have a direct impact on the health and experience of these individuals. Understanding how these attitudes are formed and enacted, particularly within religious organizations, may point to ways that stigma may be reduced, and health disparities ameliorated. With a sample of 239 congregants from 14 randomly selected places of worship, we examined the influence of individual, congregational, and clergy-level variables on homonegative attitudes. Using survey data from congregants and clergy and observational data from research assistants' observations from attending congregations, we used multilevel models to explore the ability of religiousness and affirmativeness at each level to predict homonegativity. Results indicated that congregation-and clergy-level variables explained 35% of the variation in homonegativity with individual-level variables and error explaining the remaining variation. Of the variables assessed, scriptural literalism (as a congregation-level variable), the lack of affirmativeness of clergy's preaching, and higher frequencies of quoting scripture in services explained the most variation in homonegativity. Overall, relationships between congregation-and clergy-level variables with homonegativity were larger than relationships between individual-level variables and homonegativity. We encourage continued work to examine how congregations and clergy may contribute to the formation and change of ATLG.

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“…The present study was part of a larger project that examined attitudes toward homosexuality(Lefevor, Sorrell, et al, 2019). Some of the congregations who declined participation did so due to discomfort with those aims of the survey.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of individual and congregational religiousness on seeking psychotherapy: A multilevel analysis.

Lefevor

Paiz

Virk

et al. 2020

Practice Innovations

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Religious individuals are less likely to seek treatment than their nonreligious counterparts; however, what accounts for this disparity remains unclear. Some have suggested that variation between congregations may explain this effect; yet, few studies have examined these factors due to the difficulty of conducting congregation-level research. Using a sample of 298 participants recruited from 20 congregations across three major religions (Islam, Christianity, Judaism), we used multilevel modeling to examine how individual and congregational factors effect psychotherapy seeking behavior. Guided by Ajzen's (1985) theory of planned behavior, we examined treatment seeking and two related outcomes: attitudes to seeking treatment and subjective norms around treatment seeking. We found individuals' scripture reading and service attendance unrelated to either attitudes or subjective norms. When scripture reading and service attendance were aggregated as congregation-level variables, they proved negatively related to attitudes and treatment visits, though these effects disappeared after accounting for race/ethnicity. Congregational efforts to destigmatize mental illness were unrelated to attitudes, subjective norms, or treatment visits. Intraclass correlations indicate that congregation-level factors account for a small-to-medium percentage of variation in treatment-seeking indicators. Taken together, our results indicate that congregational factors may play a role in treatment seeking; however, the relationship may be mediated by demographic features of the congregation. We encourage therapists and advocates to utilize congregations as loci of intervention to encourage treatment seeking. Clinical Impact StatementOur research suggests that characteristics of congregations may relate to the likelihood that their congregants seek psychotherapy. We encourage researchers, therapists, and advocates to consider congregations as useful sites of intervention to address mental health concerns.

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How do religious congregations affect congregants’ attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men?

Cited by 19 publications

References 42 publications

Homonegativity and the Black Church: Is Congregational Variation the Missing Link?

Homonegativity and the Black Church: Is Congregational Variation the Missing Link?

Religiousness and homonegativity in congregations: The role of individual, congregational, and clergy characteristics.

The influence of individual and congregational religiousness on seeking psychotherapy: A multilevel analysis.

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