Economic Myths Regarding Gay Men and Lesbians.

The present research was aimed at developing a measure of economic myths regarding the gay community. Using undergraduate (N = 332) and Amazon Mechanical Turk (N = 212) samples, Study 1 resulted in a 6-item unidimensional and reliable measure, the Economic Myths Regarding Gays Scale (EMGS), that was minimally related to other measures of sexual orientation attitudes. Study 2 (N = 210 undergraduates) found that endorsement of economic myths was associated with system justification beliefs that economic inequalities were natural and due to individual merit; however, general attitudes toward gays showed no such relationships. Study 3 (N = 85 undergraduates) found that unlike general stereotyping, economic myth endorsement increased in response to induced economic threat from the gay community. Collectively, the present research suggests that the EMGS is largely distinct from other measures of attitudes and stereotyping and can potentially widen research regarding sexual orientation.