Attitudes toward Cultural Diversity in Spanish and Portuguese Adolescents of Secondary Education: The Influence of Heteronormativity and Moral Disengagement in School Bullying // Actitudes hacia la diversidad cultural de adolescentes de secundaria españoles y portugueses: La influencia de la heteronormatividad y la desconexión moral hacia el bullying

Abstract

The purpose was to analyze the joint influence of sexism, homophobia and moral disengagement on attitudes toward cultural diversity. A total of 1,245 adolescents aged from 14 to 19 years old participated in the study. Of these, 57% were Spanish and 43% were Portuguese (54.9% were female and 45.1% were male). Structural equation modeling confirmed that hostile sexism, homophobia against gay men, moral disengagement in bullying and, to a lesser extent, benevolent sexism explained 53% of the variance of negative attitudes toward cultural diversity. Structural relationships among the assessed constructs were equivalent for girls and boys, and for Spain and Portugal. These findings highlight the close relationship between heteronormative and ethnocentric variables as well as the relationship between such values and moral disengagement in school bullying. We discuss the implications for critical and queer intercultural education.