2
(e.g., Bandura, 1977; Entman, & Rojecki, 2000; Gerbner, 1998; Gitlin, 1980; Holbert,
Kwak, & Shah, 2003; Kilbourne, 1999; Lester, 1996).
Despite the large quantity of research on media content and effects, media studies
on gays and lesbians are limited in comparison. Specifically, studies on media usage and
public attitudes toward homosexuals are rare. Additionally, a review of literature on
predictors of gay attitudes resulted in little research examining media variables (e.g.,
Altemeyer, 2001, Herek, 2002, Hinrichs & Rosenberg, 2002; Lim, 2002; Yang, 1997).
The present study seeks to fill this void.
Considering the increasing social acceptance and political influence of lesbians
and gay men (Rimmerman, 2002; Zaller, 1992; Yang, 1997), this minority group
deserves more attention from media scholars. The present study is likely among the first
to analyze the relationships between Americans’ attitudes toward homosexuals and their
consumption of a wide variety of mass media.
Literature Review
Reasons and Impact of Media Usage
Uses and gratifications researchers are interested in why people use particular
media, and have identified social and psychological motives such as a need for
information, development of personal identity, social interaction, and entertainment
(Blumler & Katz, 1974; Rubin, 1983; Rubin & Perse, 1987; McQuail, 1994). Vincent and
Basil (1997: 380) summarized this research approach: “audiences differ in the
gratifications they are seeking from the mass media, and these orientations may be related
to certain social conditions and functions or personality dispositions and abilities.” A
Convention