Are East Asian religions tolerant towards homosexuality? Correlational and experimental evidence.

Clobert, Magali [UCL] Saroglou, Vassilis [UCL] Hwang, Kwang-Kuo [National Taiwan University] Soong, Wen-Li [Fu Jen Catholic University]

Past research has shown that various aspects of religiosity (except quest orientation) are consistently associated with greater negative attitudes toward value-violating outgroups. Among these outgroups, the most typical and widely investigated is homosexuals. This relationship seems also to be consistent in many cultures and religions. Indeed, religious fundamentalism has been associated with greater hostile attitudes toward homosexuals among Christians (of different denominations) but also among Hindus, Muslims, and Jews. Does this also hold for Buddhism, perceived to rather a tolerant religion/spirituality, and Eastern Asian cultures, characterized by holistic thinking and interdependence? We will here review four recent studies conducted both in Asia and Europe. In Study 1 (N = 167), general religiosity, religious practice and authoritarianism were found to predict prejudice against homosexuals among Taiwanese students from a Buddhist/Taoist tradition. In Study 2 (N = 88), religious fundamentalism was positively correlated with prejudice against homosexuals among Asian Buddhists living in the West. In Study 3 (N = 3,555), self-identification as religious was followed by high anti-gay prejudice among Asians from Buddhist and Taoist traditions living in three Asian countries (ISSP 2008 data). This relation was mediated by traditional morality (restrictive sexual morality and traditional gender roles). Finally, in Study 4 (N = 116), results were different among Westerners converted to Buddhism. Indeed, after being supraliminally primed with Buddhist words, participants high in universalism showed lower negative attitudes toward homosexuals. Findings of the three first studies suggest that the association between religiosity and prejudice against homosexuals is somewhat universal. It could be explained by the cross-religious and cross-cultural concomitance of religiosity and endorsement of traditional and patriarchal values. The divergent results of Study 4 could be explained both by the process of conversion (suggesting some distance with tradition) or by a positive meaning of Buddhism in the West as a philosophy of wisdom and universal compassion.