Attitudes towards Homosexuality in Europe: Analysis of the European Values Study

Abstract

The aim of the article is to determine which countries show the most homophobic attitudes and understand the profile of homophobia in Europe. This article analyses data from the survey “European Values Study” and focuses on three of its questions: “Do you think homosexual people can be good parents”; “the degree of justification of homosexuality”, and “the attitude towards the possibility of having a homosexual neighbour”. For this, we have used a quantitative methodology (mean comparison analysis and multiple correspondences. The sample consists of 56,451 people from 34 European countries. One of the main conclusions is that homophobic attitudes are highest in the eastern countries, former Soviet republics, and, on the contrary, residents in Nordic countries have more inclusive attitudes.

Keywords

• homosexuality
• values
• homophobia
• parenthood