This provides reason to believe that people gain information and create attitudes about homosexuality through the media (Calzo & Ward, 2009). Controversial topics like homosexuality may cause shame and discomfort when discussed with peers or parents. Adolescents, for example, indicate the media as their top source of sexual information (Brown et al., 2005). Media especially influence our view on subjects that we have little experience with (Morgan et al., 2009).
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Cultivation theory states that repeated exposure to a system of messages can influence people's attitudes and views of reality. There are many stereotypes about homosexuality that gay men and lesbians are confronted with in their daily life and the media play an important role in forming these stereotypes. A mediation analysis showed that people who watch more television in general have a more stereotypical view of gay men, which is related to more negative attitudes towards LGBs. A survey among 272 participants showed that people who more frequently watch programs with stereotypical portrayals of LGBs do not have a more positive or negative attitude than people who do not. A content analysis showed that there are stereotypical representations on Dutch television but there are also people who ‘just happen to be gay’. Because the Dutch culture is relatively accepting of LGBs it is interesting to see if they are portrayed differently than in the U.S. These portrayals are both negatively and positively related to people’s attitude towards LGBs. contain many stereotypical portrayals of LGBs. Previous research shows that television programs in the U.S.
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This study investigates stereotypical portrayals of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals (LGBs) on Dutch television and whether these portrayals relate to people’s attitudes towards LGBs.