TY - JOUR
T1 - Can one TV show make a difference? Will & Grace and the parasocial contact hypothesis
AU - Schiappa, Edward
AU - Hewes, Dean E
AU - Gregg, Peter B.
PY - 2006/11/6
Y1 - 2006/11/6
N2 - Television has an opportunity to influence beliefs about groups with which individuals typically may have little direct social contact. This study describes a synthesis of the Contact Hypothesis and the concept of Parasocial Interaction to pose what we call the Parasocial Contact Hypothesis to test whether exposure to gay men on Will & Grace can influence attitudes toward gay men in general. Based on a study of 245 university students, this study examines the relationships among number and intimacy of gay social contacts, parasocial interaction, viewing frequency of Will & Grace, and scores on Herek's Attitudes Toward Gay Men and Lesbians scale. Increased viewing frequency and parasocial interaction were found to correlate with lower levels of sexual prejudice-a relationship that was most pronounced for those with the least amount of social contact with lesbians and gay men.
AB - Television has an opportunity to influence beliefs about groups with which individuals typically may have little direct social contact. This study describes a synthesis of the Contact Hypothesis and the concept of Parasocial Interaction to pose what we call the Parasocial Contact Hypothesis to test whether exposure to gay men on Will & Grace can influence attitudes toward gay men in general. Based on a study of 245 university students, this study examines the relationships among number and intimacy of gay social contacts, parasocial interaction, viewing frequency of Will & Grace, and scores on Herek's Attitudes Toward Gay Men and Lesbians scale. Increased viewing frequency and parasocial interaction were found to correlate with lower levels of sexual prejudice-a relationship that was most pronounced for those with the least amount of social contact with lesbians and gay men.
KW - Attitudes toward homosexuals
KW - Contact hypothesis
KW - Parasocial interaction
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33845327866&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33845327866&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1300/J082v51n04_02
DO - 10.1300/J082v51n04_02
M3 - Article
C2 - 17135126
AN - SCOPUS:33845327866
SN - 0091-8369
VL - 51
SP - 15
EP - 37
JO - Journal of Homosexuality
JF - Journal of Homosexuality
IS - 4
ER -