Stability and change in attitudes towards homosexuality among immigrant-origin adolescents in Norway

Abstract

This article explores attitudes about the acceptability of homosexuality among immigrant-origin adolescents in Norway. Using a sample of students enrolled in upper secondary school, and comparing the data from the World Value Survey, I discuss the extent to which attitudes towards homosexuality among immigrant-origin youth are predominantly static or subject to change as a result of exposure to Norwegian society. Despite substantial differences between native- and immigrant-origin youth, and between different groups according to regional origin and religious affiliation, I find clear indications of changes in attitudes across all groups in the direction of higher level of tolerance. Immigrant-origin youth in Norway consider themselves more tolerant than their parents; have more positive attitudes towards homosexuality than adolescents residing in their countries of origin have; and family length of residence correlates positively with acceptance of homosexuality. Exposure in the form of school contexts where native-origin adolescents make up a larger proportion of the student body is also positively correlated with more positive attitudes towards homosexuality among immigrant-origin youth, but only at the highest level of native density.