Abstract

PINTO, Diana  and  NOGUEIRA, Conceição. Portuguese nursing students' attitudes towards lesbians: from prejudice to recommendations for change. Temas psicol. [online]. 2016, vol.24, n.3, pp. 805-814. ISSN 1413-389X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.9788/TP2016.3-0.

This study intends to analyse the attitudes towards lesbians among Portuguese nursing students. For this purpose, a sample of 204 participants, with ages comprised between 18 and 31 years (M = 21), completed self-report questionnaires of discrimination and prejudice. The results revealed that nursing students tend to consider the healthcare domain to be the least discriminatory, as opposed to religion, which was considered the most discriminatory domain. The participants' heteronormativity was positively associated with the levels of healthcare discrimination. More negative attitudes were displayed by students living in rural areas and by those without lesbian friends. For this reason, it would be beneficial for students to have access to more information about the challenges posed to the lesbian community via direct contact with lesbians and via the inclusion of such information in their curricula. These practices have the potential to promote a deeper knowledge and more positive attitudes towards lesbians.

Keywords : Nursing students; lesbians; healthcare; discrimination; prejudice.

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