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Date of Graduation
Spring 2012
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Department of Graduate Psychology
Abstract
This study examined the relationship between exposure to country music and homosexual aggression. A total of 44 male and female participants (N = 23 and N = 21, respectively) filled out scales relating to attitudes toward homosexuality (Kite & Deaux, 1988), gender role beliefs (Kerr & Holden, 1996), and social conservatism (Henningham, 1996). Participants were then introduced to either a homosexual (N = 19) or heterosexual (N = 29) confederate and were exposed to either country music with patriotic and socially conservative lyrical content (N = 17) or pop music with neutral lyrical content (N = 27). Participants then ostensibly competed in a competitive reaction time task with the confederate. During the reaction time task, physical aggression was examined by having participants administer noise bursts of varying intensity, pitch, and duration to the confederate who they believed to be playing. Though men and women significantly differed on aggressiveness in the reaction time task, participants in the other experimental conditions showed no significant differences. However, trends on aggression scores suggest that with a larger sample size, male participants exposed to country music and homosexual confederates’ aggression scores may have been statistically significantly different from other groups.
Recommended Citation
Borgella, Alex Manuel, "The role of country music in homonegativistic aggression" (2012). Masters Theses, 2010-2019. 156.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/master201019/156
