• About
    • About
    • What is Public Interest Communications?
    • Our Team
    • Theories We Use
    • What We’ve Shared
    • Center Updates
    • Programs & Affiliates
      • frank gathering
      • The Research Prize in Public Interest Communications
      • Journal of Public Interest Communications
      • UF Programs
    • Contact Us
  • Our Services
    • Strategy Consulting
    • Issue Research
    • Training – Frameworks and Custom
  • Frameworks & Resources
  • Training
  • Case Studies
Center for Public Interest Communications
Support
  • About
    • About
    • What is Public Interest Communications?
    • Our Team
    • Theories We Use
    • What We’ve Shared
    • Center Updates
    • Programs & Affiliates
      • frank gathering
      • The Research Prize in Public Interest Communications
      • Journal of Public Interest Communications
      • UF Programs
    • Contact Us
  • Our Services
    • Strategy Consulting
    • Issue Research
    • Training – Frameworks and Custom
  • Frameworks & Resources
  • Training
  • Case Studies
  • Research & Insights

The Comforting Possibility of Change

  • October 28, 2015
  • 2 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
0

Homophobia and transphobia can take a serious mental and physical toll on lesbian, gay and bisexual people. To help those who are victimized because of their sexual preference or gender identity, some communications campaigns offer words of comfort. But new research from the London Business School and Stanford University suggests that the best way to give people a sense of hope and to make them feel that they belong is to assure them that bigoted attitudes can change.

The study, published in a 2013 issue of the journal Personality and Social psychology Bulletin, involved a series of experiments conducted by researchers Aneeta Rattan and Nalini Ambady. Both heterosexual cisgender participants and LGBTQ participants were asked to rate how comforting they found various messages from the “It Gets Better” project – a campaign launched on YouTube to “communicate to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth around the world that it gets better, and to create and inspire the changes needed to make it better for them.” The researchers found that for LGBTQ participants, messages that emphasized social change were more comforting than messages that simply emphasized finding a caring social circle.

The researchers first analyzed the 50 most viewed “It Gets Better” videos for their message content. They found that comfort and connection were mentioned significantly more frequently than social change.

They then conducted a series of experiments in which groups of heterosexual cisgender participants and LGBTQ participants were shown one of three supportive messages. All the messages contained a message of comfort –“I know that the people in your household or in your school may not understand you…but I want you to know that it gets better.” Some of the messages also included a statement of social connection: “You will never have to deal with those jerks again if you don’t want to. You will find and you will make new friends who will understand you.” Other statements included a statement of social change: “the attitudes of society will change.” Participants then used a scale to rank how comforting they felt the statements were.

The researchers found that although heterosexual participants felt both the social connection message and the social change message were equally comforting, LGBTQ participants felt that the social change message was significantly more comforting.

“Majority group members [in this case, heterosexuals] focused more on contradicting the social rejection inherent in prejudice with an emphasis on social connection and liking, rather than addressing the fact that social change is possible and prejudice can be reduced,” the researchers explained.

“It is critical to emphasize that all messages of support were experienced as comforting by LGBTQ participants,” they note. However, “the recommendation to those who seek to draw practical applications for constructing an optimal message of…support…may be to emphasize the need to add social change themes…to the statements of support.”

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

Researchers:
Aneeta Rattan, London Business School
Nalini Ambady,Stanford University

0
0
0
Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • frankology
Previous Article
  • Research & Insights

When It Comes to Breastfeeding Messages, Credibility Matters

  • October 26, 2015
View Post
Next Article
  • Research & Insights

Bipartisan Science and a Call to Action

  • October 28, 2015
View Post
Think we can help with your goals? Read about our services and how we work.
Or reach out today to tell us a bit about your project and inquire how we might help.

 
 

Join our network

We'll send insights and opportunities when you least expect

More of our work
  • BROKE project screenshot
    Re-examining narratives on poverty and wealth — the BROKE project
  • The Secret to Better Storytelling for Social Change: Better Partnerships
  • Communicating the Complexity of Displacement in a Changing Climate
  • Illustration by Ailadi.
    Designing Diverse and Gender Inclusive Humanitarian Organizations
Latest from the Center
  • Teresa Gonzales and Nicole Bronzan
    Paper exploring local discursive frames of poverty and race wins 2023 research prize
  • Center welcomes two collaborators in research and strategy
  • 2023 Research Prize Finalists
    Center announces three finalists for the $10,000 public interest communications research prize
  • Rakeem Robinson
    Center honors the memory of colleague Rakeem Robinson
How We Help – Case Studies
  • illustration of hand holding United States flag
    Covering immigration in local news—an exploration by Define American
  • gloved hand holding vial
    Science-based communication strategy on COVID for the UN Verified Initiative
  • illustration
    Innovation Service of UNHCR: the UN Refugee Agency

Subscribe

Keep up with our latest; request our periodic newsletter.

UF Logo

Center for Public Interest Communications
PO Box 118400
Gainesville, FL 32611-8400

An auxiliary unit of the College of Journalism and Communications

Copyright © 2022

Contact Us

We are eager to chat with you about your project or training need.

Send us a note

The Center for Public Interest Communications, the first of its kind in the nation, is designed to study, test and apply the science of strategic communication for social change. We are based at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.

  • Social Change Communication
  • Science Communication
  • Strategic Communication
  • Broader Impacts
  • Public Interest Communication
  • Narrative Change
  • Leadership Development
  • Strategy Development
  • Effective Presentations
  • Research Translation & Insights

Input your search keywords and press Enter.