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To cite this article: Yael Belsky MA & Gary M. Diamond PhD (2015) Causal Attributions and
Parents’ Acceptance of Their Homosexual Sons, Journal of Homosexuality, 62:10, 1419-1431,
DOI: 10.1080/00918369.2015.1061364
A growing body of research testifies to the important role that parental rejection
and acceptance play in the welfare of sexual minority adolescents and young
adults. Whereas parental rejection, lack of support, criticism, and psychological
abuse have been linked to internalized homophobia, expectations for future gay
related rejection by others (Pachankis, Goldfried, & Ramrattan, 2008), increased
risk for psychological symptoms and suicidal ideation (Bebes, Samarova, Shilo, &
Diamond, 2013; McLaughlin, Hatzenbuehler, Xuan, & Conron, 2012; Remafedi,
Farrow, & Deisher, 1991; Ryan, Huebner, Diaz, & Sanchez, 2009), and higher
levels of drug and alcohol consumption (Rothman, Sullivan, Keyes, & Boehmer,
2012), parental acceptance and support have been linked to greater self-esteem,
wellbeing, and perceived social support, and have been found to buffer against
psychopathology (Eisenberg & Resnick, 2006; Evans, Hawton, & Rodham, 2004;
Address correspondence to Yael Belsky, P.O. Box 653, Beer Sheva 90815, Israel. E-mail:
yaelbelsky@gmail.com
1419
1420 Y. Belsky and G. M. Diamond
Hershberger & D’Augelli, 1995; Needham & Austin, 2010; Ryan, Russell, Hueb-
ner, Diaz, & Sanchez, 2010; Savin-Williams, 1989).
Multiple factors likely contribute to the degree to which parents accept
or reject their same-sex-oriented offspring. Some parents reject their chil-
dren because they are disappointed in them, ashamed of them, angry with
them, or repulsed. They may view their child’s homosexuality, lesbianism,
or bisexuality as a defect, weakness, failure, negative reflection of their
parenting, personal affront, or sin. They may also reject their child because
his or her sexuality threatens their family values, family relationships,
religious beliefs, social ties, or status in the community. In contrast, parents
who are less religious and who have had more exposure to gay, lesbian,
and bisexual (LGB) people are likely to be more accepting (Heatherington
& Lavner, 2008).
One strong predictor of parental acceptance or rejection is the
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and are fluid (i.e., changeable). It is worth noting, however, that even con-
structivist theorists acknowledge the potential influence of biological factors
on sexual attraction (Horowitz & Newcomb, 2002). Results across studies
consistently show that the more one’s beliefs are essentialist, the more accept-
ing one is of homosexual individuals. These findings hold true in both random
(Wood & Bartkowski, 2004) and nationally representative (Haider-Markel &
Joslyn, 2008) samples, as well as in multinational studies (Ernulf et al., 1989),
suggesting that this is a robust and cross-cultural phenomenon.
Despite the clear link between causal attributions and acceptance of
sexual minorities in the general population, there have been no quanti-
tative studies to date (to the best of our knowledge) examining the link
between causal attributions and acceptance among actual parents of
homosexual sons. In one analogue study, researchers asked 356 college
students to imagine that they were the parents of a 16-year-old homo-
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sexual boy and found that the more that the child’s homosexuality was
perceived as being under his control, the more fury, anger, hate, and
shame emerged. Conversely, the less homosexuality was perceived as
under the adolescent’s control, the more affection was demonstrated
(Armesto & Weisman, 2001). However, imagining that you are the parent
of a homosexual son and being a parent of a homosexual son are two
different things. Moreover, the role or weight of causal attributions in the
level of acceptance among actual parents of same-sex-oriented children
may be different from that found in the general population. Parents are
emotionally invested in their child. Such emotional investment typically
involves a natural drive to protect and support their child, which may
attenuate the impact of essentialist attributions. Parents’ identification with
their child may also result in intense shame and loss and exacerbate the
impact of essentialist attributions.
The purpose of this study was to examine the association between
causal attributions and level of acceptance among actual parents of
homosexual sons. The study was conducted in Israel where, despite
progressive nondiscriminatory laws regarding sexual orientation, gender
identity and expression (Shilo & Savaya, 2012), and high levels of accep-
tance in certain urban centers, Israeli public opinion about the accep-
tance of homosexuality is still sharply divided (Pew Research Center,
2013). Also, we focused exclusively on gay sons because previous
research has shown that parents respond differently to gay, lesbian, and
bisexual children (Mohr & Rochlen, 1999), and because sexual orientation
has been found to be less fluid in males than in females (Mock & Eibach,
2012). Based on the previous literature, we expected that the more
parents attributed their son’s sexual orientation to biological, unchange-
able factors, the more accepting they would be. In addition, we explored
which demographic variables, if any, predicted constructivist versus
1422 Y. Belsky and G. M. Diamond
METHODS
Procedure
The study was Internet-based. Participants were recruited via advertisements
placed in gay-oriented Web sites and forums (e.g., “go-gay,” various forums in
Tapuz, and gay groups on Facebook). Because we have found, in past
research studies, that it is particularly difficult to recruit non-accepting parents
to participate in research on acceptance, the advertisements specifically called
for parents who felt as though they were “having difficulty coping with their
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child’s sexual orientation or who felt that their child’s coming out had nega-
tively impacted upon their relationship with him.” In addition, e-mails were
sent to listservs composed of parents participating in gay-affirmative support
groups. Once individuals agreed to participate, they were directed to a Web
site where they read and signed a consent form and, then, were instructed
regarding how to complete the study measures and demographic information.
All data were stored in a confidential fashion and deidentified, with consent
forms stored separately. For their participation, respondents were entered into
a raffle for a prize of 800 shekels (approximately $225). The study was
approved by the university’s research on human subjects committee.
Participants
Participants were 57 parents (17 fathers and 40 mothers) of gay males.
Parents’ mean age was 54 years (SD = 9.89). Thirty-four percent reported
that their ethnic origin was Eastern European, 38% were from Western
Europe or North America, 7% were from North Africa or Arab countries,
and 5% identified as at least fifth-generation Israelis, with the remaining
16% identifying as “other.” Thirty-two percent of parents were high
school graduates, 30.5% had obtained a BA degree, and 37.5% had
obtained a graduate degree. In terms of religious identification, 93%
reported being Jewish, 3.5% reported being Druze, and the remaining
3.5% reported “other.” In terms of religious affiliation (i.e., degree that
religion was important to them), 32% reported no affiliation to religion,
47% reported little affiliation to religion, 16% reported moderate affiliation
to religion, and 5% reported a great deal of religious affiliation. Sixty-nine
percent reported that they had known their son was gay for more than 1
year, 5.5% reported knowing for less than 1 year, 5.5% reported knowing
for less than 6 months, 5.5% reported knowing for less than 3 months,
Causal Attributions and Parental Acceptance 1423
and 14.5% reported knowing for less than 1 month. Sons’ ages ranged
from 13 to 40 years, with a mean of 24.39 (6.97).
Measures
PARENTAL ACCEPTANCE
Parents were asked the following question: “To what extent do you
accept your gay son?” Parents then chose an answer between 0% (not
at all) to 100% (full acceptance), using a drop-down menu with intervals
of 10%. The frequencies of each level of parental acceptance appear in
Table 1.
Because of the skewed distribution of levels of acceptance, scores
were recoded to form a trichotomous categorical variable: Fully accepting
(100% acceptance); partially accepting (50%–90% acceptance); and
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Levels of acceptance N = 57
Fully 100% 28
Partially 90% 6
80% 3
70% 2
60% 2
50% 2
Non-accepting 40% 6
30% 2
20% 3
10% 0
0% 3
1424 Y. Belsky and G. M. Diamond
the degree to which they agreed with or endorsed each statement on a scale from 1
(not at all) to 7 (absolutely). Statements were (1) A homosexual is a person who
chose this sexual orientation for any number of reasons; (2) A homosexual is a
person who was born with this sexual orientation; (3) A homosexual person can
turn into a heterosexual person; and (4) A heterosexual person can turn into a
homosexual person. The attribution score was the mean across all four items, after
reverse scoring statement two. Lower scores reflect more essentialist causal attribu-
tions, whereas higher scores reflected more constructivist causal attributions.
DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRE
Parents were asked to indicate their gender, religious affiliation (none, little,
moderate, or high), and level of education (high school, BA, or graduate)
(see Table 2).
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Sex
Male 17 30%
Female 40 70%
Ethnic origin
Eastern Europe 19 34%
Western Europe & North America 21 38%
North Africa & Arab countries 4 7%
5th-generation Israelis 3 5%
Other 8 16%
Education
High school 18 32%
BA 17 30.5%
Graduates 21 37.5%
Religious identification
Jewish 54 93%
Druze 2 3.5%
Other 2 3.5%
Religious affiliation
None 18 32%
Little 26 47%
Moderate 9 16%
High 3 5%
Time since parent knew
Over 1 year 38 69%
Less than 1 year 3 5.5%
Less than 6 months 3 5.5%
Less than 3 months 3 5.5%
Less than 1 month 8 14.5%
Causal Attributions and Parental Acceptance 1425
RESULTS
Preliminary Results
RELIABILITY
To estimate the reliability of the attribution questionnaire, we calculated the
Cronbach’s alpha and found that the internal consistency for the measure as a
whole was 0.76 (N = 57).
Primary Analysis
To examine whether less accepting parents held more constructivist causal
attributions than did fully accepting parents, we first divided the sample into
three groups, according to level of acceptance. Those parents reporting 100%
acceptance were designated as “fully accepting” (N = 28), those parents who
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Secondary Analyses
To explore which demographic variables, if any, predicted parents’ causal
attributions, we conducted a multiple regression analysis. Parents’ attribution
scores served as the dependent measure, with length of time parent knew of
their child’s homosexual orientation, parent’s gender, religious affiliation, and
education serving as predictor variables. The means and standard deviation of
each variable are shown in Table 3. Bivariate associations are shown in
Table 4. Results showed that the overall model was significant, F(4,49) =
3.50, p < 0.05, Adjusted R2 = 0.16. A closer inspection of the beta scores
revealed that both length of time parent knew of their child’s homosexual
orientation and religious affiliation predicted parents’ attributions. Results
indicate that the longer the parent knew and the less religious they were,
1426 Y. Belsky and G. M. Diamond
6.5
5.5
Attribution scores
4.5
3.91
4 (1.34)
3.5
2.73
3 (1.07)
2.5 1.94
(1.10)
2
1.5
1
Fully accepting Partially accepting Non accepting
Mean SD N
Gender
Male 3.16 1.45 17
Female 2.40 1.32 40
Religious affiliation
No 2.30 1.35 18
Low 2.73 1.47 26
Moderate 2.55 1.20 9
High 4.08 1.37 3
Time since parents knew
Less than 1 month 3.22 1.42 8
Less than 3 months 3.91 2.26 3
Less than 6 months 4.41 0.38 3
Less than 1 year 2.25 0.43 3
Over 1 year 2.29 1.26 38
Education
High school 2.62 1.30 18
BA 2.25 1.13 17
Graduates 2.96 1.65 21
the more essentialist were their causal attributions. Results of the multiple
regression analysis appear in Table 5.
DISCUSSION
Model 1
Variable B SE B β
linear trend showing that the more essentialist a parent’s causal attribu-
tions, the more accepting they were, and the more parents believed that
homosexuality is the result of environmental causes and is mutable, the
less accepting they were. This finding is consistent with results from
previous studies examining causal theories and attitudes toward homo-
sexuality among the general public (Ben-Ari, 1998; Ernulf et al., 1989;
Haider-Markel & Joslyn, 2008; Haslam & Levy, 2006; Landén & Innala,
2002; Lewis, 2009; Oldham & Kasser, 1999; Piskur & Degelman, 1992;
Wood & Bartkowski, 2004). It is also in line with findings from a previous
analogue study examining causal attributions and attitudes among a
sample of college students asked to imagine that they were parents of a
homosexual child (Armesto & Weisman, 2001). Moreover, these findings
echo anecdotal reports from parents participating in support groups who
1428 Y. Belsky and G. M. Diamond
sampled only parents of gay sons. Although the homogeneity of the sample
increased internal validity, our findings are not necessarily generalizable to
parents of lesbian and bisexual children. Yet another limitation was that only
explicit self-report measures of attributions and acceptance were used. Self-
report may be skewed due to demand characteristics (e.g., not wanting to
appear too rejecting), though such demand characteristics were likely miti-
gated to some extent by the fact that the study was Internet based. Finally,
both Sephardic Jews and Arabs, who comprise 50% and 20% of the Israeli
population, were underrepresented in the study sample.
Even in the context of these limitations, this study presents the first findings
showing that parents’ self-reported level of acceptance is related to their causal
attributions regarding their child’s homosexual orientation. These findings
potentially have applied implication in that they suggest that causal attributions
may be an important target of intervention among non-accepting parents, at
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least in the early stages of their acceptance process. Future research would do
well to include implicit measures of both causal attributions and acceptance, to
use larger samples including more fathers, and to examine whether shifts in
causal attributions result in shifts in level of acceptance.
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