SEXUAL PREJUDICE AND THE RELEVANCE OF POLITICAL CULTURE: TRENDS AND CORRELATES IN EL SALVADOR

Abstract

The correlates of sexual prejudice –negative attitudes toward gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals– are well-known in the literature, but the relevance of the social-political environment in which these correlates insert has received less attention. This study examines trends and correlates of sexual prejudice in El Salvador, a country frequently ranked as one of the most homophobic in the Americas. Using a representative sample from national-level surveys conducted between 2008 and 2016, it was found that the Salvadorian population displayed high levels of sexual prejudice in this period, although these levels varied significantly over time. Analysis with 2016 data showed that socially precarious conditions, religion, and traditionally gendered worldviews, were positively associated with sexual prejudice. Sexual prejudice also correlated with political and social beliefs that encompass authoritarian and misogynistic tendencies. Three clusters of predictors of sexual prejudice were identified: Religious conventionalism, unsophisticated masculinity background, and deficient democratic socialization. This study supports previous findings about correlates of sexual prejudice while highlighting the lesser-studied role of the social-political environment, and oscillations in a democratic culture, in perpetuating sexual prejudice.