Prior studies suggest that scientific knowledge may improve attitudes towards sexual minorities such as gays and lesbians. But in what context does this ring true? The present study aims to test whether scientific literacy can predict attitudes towards gays and lesbians when considering the variables pathogen avoidance and religious fundamentalism in a moderated moderation model. A total of 1,398 participants (female = 74.9%, M_age = 25.15, SD = 5.84) completed our online survey. We found that an increase in scientific literacy can indeed predict an improvement in attitudes towards sexual minorities, specifically gays and lesbians. However, this effect was weakened in the condition of high pathogen avoidance, specifically for one of the dimensions of pathogen avoidance—germ aversion. When considering the value of religious fundamentalism in a three-way interaction, we found that scientific literacy can remain effective in predicting attitudes towards sexual minorities only within the condition of low germ aversion. Thus, threat avoidance such as germ aversion, contrary to religious fundamentalism, may diminish the benefits of scientific literacy in improving attitudes towards sexual minorities. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

中文翻译：

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神、细菌和科学：揭示科学素养、细菌厌恶和宗教原教旨主义在预测对同性恋者态度中的作用

先前的研究表明，科学知识可能会改善对同性恋等性少数群体的态度。但在什么情况下这听起来是真的？本研究旨在测试科学素养是否可以在适度的适度模型中考虑变量病原体避免和宗教原教旨主义时预测对同性恋者的态度。共有 1,398 名参与者（女性 = 74.9%，M_年龄 = 25.15，SD = 5.84) 完成了我们的在线调查。我们发现，科学素养的提高确实可以预测对性少数群体，特别是同性恋者的态度会有所改善。然而，这种效应在高度避免病原体的情况下被削弱，特别是对于病原体避免的维度之一——细菌厌恶。当考虑宗教原教旨主义在三向互动中的价值时，我们发现只有在细菌厌恶程度低的情况下，科学素养才能有效地预测对性少数群体的态度。因此，与宗教原教旨主义相反，避免诸如细菌厌恶之类的威胁可能会削弱科学素养在改善对性少数群体的态度方面的好处。请参阅补充材料部分以找到这篇文章'