Religious Commitment and Prejudicial Attitudes toward Homosexuals in Ghana

Abstract

Recently, the issue of homosexuality has generated passionate discussion in Ghana making it obvious that Ghanaians are unaccepting of it and view it as against the culture, moral ethics and religions of Ghana. This study therefore aimed at determining the extent to which religious commitment will moderate prejudicial attitudes toward homosexuals focusing on the cognitive and affective components of attitudes. It also had the secondary aim of determining the relative importance of stereotypic beliefs, symbolic beliefs, and affect in predicting attitudes toward homosexuals. Students of the University of Ghana, specifically from the Department of Psychology, served as participants (N = 183). Findings indicated that participants had prejudicial attitudes toward homosexuals, rating them as very unfavourable. Also, participants’ personal characteristics did not predict their evaluation of homosexuals. Additionally, stereotypic beliefs and affect were found to be the best predictors of participants’ prejudicial attitudes. Finally, it was found that religious commitment moderated the relationship between participants’ attitude components and their evaluation of homosexuals but with the exception of affect. These findings are most probably due to the cultural environment within which participants are socialized. It is recommended that future studies determine which other variables might be affecting prejudicial attitudes toward homosexuals and also examine the behavioural component of such attitudes.

Keywords: Prejudicial Attitudes, Religious Commitment, Homosexuals, Attitude Components