Horizontal individualism, traditional gender role values, and attitudes toward same-sex marriage among adults in Hong Kong

Previous research has suggested that individualism is associated with more positive attitudes toward homosexuality. The present study aims to extend the extant literature by investigating the potential mediating effect of traditional gender role values on the association between horizontal individualism and attitudes toward same-sex marriage. A total of 102 adults (31 male, 65 female, and 6 prefer not to say) aged from 18 to 36 years (M = 21.75, SD = 4.012) in Hong Kong participated in this study. The participants completed an online questionnaire, which consisted of the Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Marriage Scale (ATSM), the horizontal individualism subscale of the Culture Orientation Scale (COS), and a measures of traditional gender role values. The results indicated that horizontal individualism was significantly related to less traditional gender role values. It was also found that traditional gender role values were significantly related to less favorable attitudes toward sex-same marriage. More important, it was revealed that the indirect effect of horizontal individualism on attitudes toward same-sex marriage through traditional gender role values was significant. The direct effect of horizontal individualism on attitudes toward same-sex marriage was not significant. The findings of this study shed light on the mechanism through which individualism influences attitudes toward homosexuality.