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Reducing Homophobia Through Audiovisual Narratives in Serbia: the Impact of Positive Depiction of Gay People on Audience Attitudes

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Reducing Homophobia Through Audiovisual Narratives in Serbia: the Impact of Positive Depiction of Gay People on Audience Attitudes ADVERTIMENT. Lʼaccés als continguts dʼaquesta tesi queda condicionat a lʼacceptació de les condicions dʼús establertes per la següent llicència Creative Commons: http://cat.creativecommons.org/?page_id=184 ADVERTENCIA. El acceso a los contenidos de esta tesis queda condicionado a la aceptación de las condiciones de uso establecidas por la siguiente licencia Creative Commons: http://es.creativecommons.org/blog/licencias/ WARNING. The access to the contents of this doctoral thesis it is limited to the acceptance of the use conditions set by the following Creative Commons license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/?lang=en Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona Departament de Comunicació Audiovisual i Publicitat Reducing homophobia through audiovisual narratives in Serbia: the impact of positive depiction of gay people on audience attitudes Doctoral thesis Author: Goran Madžarević Mentor: Dr. María T. Soto-Sanfiel Bellaterra, June 2016 Author: Goran Madžarević ______________________________ Signature Mentor: Dr. María T. Soto-Sanfiel ______________________________ Signature ii Acknowledgments First of all, I would like to thank and express enormous gratitude and appreciation to my dear professor María T. Soto-Sanfiel (Maite) for her inexhaustible guiding and for supporting me over the last four years. I would also like to point out, and thank her for requiring always better and more, for being constantly available and willing 25 hours a day to answer all my questions and doubts I faced in my work. Because of her vast knowledge and skills in many areas, Maite simply made me better, and she definitely made me know more. I must also acknowledge Ernest Verdura and Candi Casademont for being always so kind to me, and for all of their administration and technical assistance throughout my doctoral studies. I thank Maša Pavlović who taught me how to do the statistics. I thank Kristina Varcaković for correcting my grammatical errors. I would like to express the deepest appreciation to Agencia Española de Cooperación internacional y Desarrollo (AECID) who gave me a unique opportunity to live, study and make my dissertation in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. This research would not have been possible without the financial assistance of AECID. With the help of AECID, I felt so privileged to be at the same time a student of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, to admire the fabulous architecture of Gaudí, and to worship the modern poetry of Iniesta and Xavi. Finally, I would like to thank my family for indeed being my family. iii Abstract The objective of the present study is to analyze the impact of audiovisual fiction on attitudes towards gay people within the specific Serbian culture. Particularly, this study observes the processes explaining attitude change towards homosexuality through a positive representation of gay men depicted in the film The Parade (2011). The study was based on a sample of 200 college students (M = 21.64, SD = 2.27). We applied a quasi-experimental research design and divided all participants into two groups: an experimental group (N=150), and a control group (N=50). There were two phases of data collection separated by 30 days. Firstly, we collected data in the pre-test: All the participants filled in a questionnaire consisted of socio-demographic information and the instrument H25 measuring homophobia. One month later, we performed a second data collection. In this phase, the experimental group and the control group differed in some of the tasks they were asked to complete. The experimental group watched the film, and after the exposure, filled in a questionnaire measuring homophobia, identification with the character, intergroup contact and the third person effect. On the other hand, the control group did not watch the film, and once again filled in a questionnaire measuring homophobia. We applied quantitative method in order to identify subjacent relations between the variables, and to determine magnitudes of their effects. Main results reveal that experimental group, compared with a control group, showed more favorable attitude towards gay people. Results also found that men expressed higher level of homophobia than women. Identification with character was positively associated with acceptance of homosexuality. We also obtained positive correlation between the identification and intergroup contact. Religiosity and the third person effect were negatively associated with homophobia score. The less identification with the character the participants achieved, the higher level of religiosity, and the third person effect they expressed. In conclusion, the study makes a general contribution by reinforcing the results of previous media effect related studies, and finds their relevance within the Serbian context. Keywords: homophobia, attitudes, attitude change, identification, persuasion, third person effect, religiosity. iv Resumen El objetivo del presente estudio fue analizar el impacto que ejerce la ficción audiovisual sobre las actitudes hacia las personas homosexuales en el contexto específico de la cultura serbia. En particular, este estudio observa los procesos que explican el cambio de actitud hacia las personas homosexuales a través de la película titulada La Parada (2011), que conlleva una representación positiva de los hombres homosexuales. En el estudio participaron 200 estudiantes universitarios (M = 21.64, SD = 2.27). Se aplicó un diseño de investigación cuasi-experimental en la que todos los participantes fueron divididos en dos grupos: un grupo experimental (N= 150), y un grupo de control (N = 50). La recogida de datos se realizó en dos fases separadas por un período de 30 días. En la primera fase se recogieron los datos del pre-test: todos los participantes rellenaron un cuestionario que contenía la información socio-demográfica y el instrumento H25 que medía la homofobia. Al cabo de un mes, se realizó una segunda recogida de datos. En esta fase, el grupo experimental vio la película, y después del visionado, rellenó un cuestionario que medía la homofobia, la identificación con el personaje, el contacto intergrupal, así como el efecto de la tercera persona. Por otro lado, el grupo de control no vio la película, y volvió a rellenar el cuestionario que contenía el instrumento H25 de medición de la homofobia. Se aplicó un método cuantitativo con el fin de identificar las relaciones entre las variables subyacentes, y para determinar magnitudes de sus efectos. Los resultados principales revelan que el grupo experimental, en comparación con el grupo de control ha mostrado la actitud más favorable hacia las personas homosexuales. Los resultados asimismo indican que los hombres expresaron un mayor nivel de homofobia respecto a las mujeres. La identificación con el personaje homosexual se asoció positivamente con la aceptación de la homosexualidad después del visionado de la película. Igualmente, se obtuvo una correlación positiva entre el contacto intergrupal y la identificación con el personaje. La religiosidad y el efecto de la tercera persona se asociaron negativamente con los niveles de homofobia. La menor identificación con el personaje fue asociada con los niveles más altos de religiosidad y del efecto de tercera persona. Al encontrar su relevancia dentro del contexto serbio, nuestra investigación hace una contribución general a los estudios anteriores que conciernen a las influencias y los efectos de las ficciones audiovisuales en el cambio de actitud. Palabras clave: homofobia, actitudes, cambio de actitud, identificación, persuasión, el efecto de tercera persona, religiosidad. v Table of contents Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv Resumen .......................................................................................................................................... v List of tables .................................................................................................................................... x 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 14 1.1 Objectives of the study........................................................................................................ 23 1.1.1 Specific objectives ....................................................................................................... 24 2. Theoretical framework .............................................................................................................. 26 2.1. Homosexuality ................................................................................................................... 26 2.1.1 Homosexuality as a term associated with pathology ................................................... 26 2.1.2 Psychoanalytic approach .............................................................................................. 27 2.1.3 Biological approach ..................................................................................................... 29 2.1.4 Behaviourist approach ................................................................................................. 32 2.1.5 Interactional theory ...................................................................................................... 32 2.1.6
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