Studies about prejudice and discrimination carried out in several countries have demonstrated that such phenomenon is taking more subtle shapes. This work is inserted in this field and investigates sexual orientation effects in the infra-humanization process. Participants were 135 students from the human resources post-graduation course. They had answered a questionnaire that required them to evaluate individuals who could be either homosexuals or heterosexuals by the attribution of natural or cultural characteristics in order to verify the presence of the infra-humanization process in the prejudice against homosexuals. Different from the previous studies, the results indicated that the prejudice against homosexuals is expressed in a more subtle way through the attribution of more positive characteristics to heterosexuals and the attribution of the same level of negative characteristics to both groups of individuals. These results are discussed emphasizing the importance of more studies about the subject which has been neglected by social psychologist.
homosexuality; infra-humanization; prejudice
