ABSTRACT

Research on attitudes towards asexual people is a relatively new focus within the discipline of psychology, and to date has not been a topic of focus in the Australian context. This study focused on Australian undergraduate psychology students, and their attitudes towards asexual people. The study recruited 231 participants from undergraduate psychology programmes to complete an online survey assessing their attitudes towards asexual people, bias against single people, and gender ideologies. In addition, participants rated how comfortable and confident they felt about working with asexual people within mental health settings in the future. Participants who reported greater endorsement of traditional gender role ideology, and negative bias against singles, also reported greater levels of anti-asexual bias. Participants who hoped to pursue a career in psychology reported lower levels of anti-asexual bias and less negative attitudes towards single people, and reported moderate levels of both comfort in working with asexual people in the future, and capacity to provide safe care to asexual people in the future. Drawing on these findings, the paper concludes by discussing areas that require ongoing attention in the study of anti-asexual bias, and makes recommendations for the training of psychology students and clinicians.

摘要

对无性恋者态度的研究是心理学学科中一个相对较新的焦点，迄今为止还不是澳大利亚关注的话题。这项研究的重点是澳大利亚本科心理学学生，以及他们对无性恋者的态度。该研究从本科心理学课程中招募了 231 名参与者，以完成一项在线调查，评估他们对无性恋者的态度、对单身人士的偏见和性别意识形态。此外，参与者评估了他们对未来在心理健康环境中与无性恋者一起工作的舒适度和自信程度。报告更多支持传统性别角色意识形态和对单身有负面偏见的参与者也报告了更高程度的反无性偏见。希望从事心理学职业的参与者报告了较低水平的反无性偏见和对单身人士的消极态度，并报告了未来与无性恋者合作的舒适度以及为无性恋者提供安全护理的能力在将来。基于这些发现，本文最后讨论了在反无性偏见研究中需要持续关注的领域，并为心理学学生和临床医生的培训提出了建议。