Attitude change in response to information that male homosexuality has a biological basis.

We assessed 28 college students' attitudes toward homosexuals immediately before and 1 week after the presentation of either an article suggesting that male homosexuality has a biological component or a control article. Change in attitude toward homosexuality for subjects exposed to the biological article depended on subjects' memory of the article and on their college major. Subjects undecided in their major and those who scored below average on a memory test of the article's content had the most positive attitude change, while biological science majors and those who scored above average on the memory test became more negative toward homosexuals. The results suggest biological information about homosexuality can have both beneficial and detrimental effects on attitudes toward homosexuals.