1866: Rust College Journal of Student Research - Diversity

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than age 50 and 69 percent of those younger than age thirty feel that homosexuality should be accepted. Individuals ages fifty and older (52 percent) favor societal acceptance of homosexuality (Pew Research Center, political typology survey, May 4, 2011). Studies have shown that this is a direct result of younger individuals having actual contact or personal relationships with homosexual individuals, a familiarity which ultimately lightens their aggression towards homosexuality or same-­‐sex marriage. In another study focusing on age differences in acceptance of homosexuality, about half of the respondents (48 percent) reported that they knew someone homosexual, whereas 52 percent reported that they did not. The younger age group knew homosexual persons to a greater extent than the older age group.

Those who knew someone homosexual had a significantly more liberal

outlook on homosexuality and homosexual individuals than those who did not. This study seeks to further explore the variation of age in relevance to acceptance of homosexuality. Straying away from the causes of this acceptance this research study simply statistically analyzes the differences for further study on this topic. In this study, age, as an independent variable, is simply measured or gathered through asking the respondents their age. The age of respondents is then observed alongside other indicators to give a general view of how accepting they are of homosexuality. Political Party Affiliation The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation released the results of a survey of 3,130 adults about their position on same-­‐sex marriage. The survey

1866: Rust College Journal of Student Research – Social Science

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