Could Bad Smells Be Causing Homophobia?

<p>With Northern Ireland's LGBT fight for marriage equality still hanging in the balance an interesting culprit is being eyed up.</p> <p>by Newsdesk | 19th May 2014</p><p></p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.thegayuk.com/communities/8/004/009/928/388/images/4609896931.jpg" width="459" height="310" alt="© 2014 Adams et al. " title="© 2014 Adams et al. "/></p> <p></p><p></p><p><a href="http://thegayuk.com/magazine/4574334751/Same-Sex-Marriage-Motion-Defeated-In-Northern-Ireland/8028894">Last month the same-sex marriage motion was defeated 51-43 in Northern Ireland</a>, but there maybe more than just religious traditions and conservativism that is stopping the UK from becoming entirely same-sex marriage equal. Sewage and Bad Smells.</p><p></p><p>According to a new report, a team of psychologists and political scientists headed by: Thomas G. Adams, John C. Blanchar and Patrick A Stewart, from the University of Arkansas have found that people are less likely to support gay marriage if they’re in a smelly enviroment. </p><p></p><p>According to the results which were published in the <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0095572">PLOS ONE journal,</a> 'Disgust is increasingly seen as playing an important role in the formation and maintenance of political and social attitudes'.</p><p></p><p>'Self-reported socio-political attitudes were compared between participants in two experimental conditions: 1) an odorless control condition, and 2) a disgusting odor condition. In keeping with previous research, the present study showed that exposure to a disgusting odor increased endorsement of socially conservative attitudes related to sexuality. In particular, there was a strong and consistent link between induced disgust and less support for gay marriage.'</p><p></p><p>779 people took part in the experiment, the majority of participants were Caucasian/white self-described Christian and heterosexual.</p><p></p><p>Time to get the JPG out boys...</p><p></p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.thegayuk.com/communities/8/004/009/928/388/images/4609840223.png" width="460" height="30" alt="" title=""/></p> <p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-gay-uk/id616631043?mt=8&uo=4&at=11luiF">Read this and other stories on our free app for iTunes</a></p><p></p><p><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=hr.apps.n52474532">or for Android phones</a></p><p></p><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-gay-uk/id770600575?mt=8&uo=4&at=11luiF">Download our latest edition of TheGayUK on your Apple Device</a></p><p></p><p><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.presspadapp.thegayuk">Download our latest edition of TheGayUK on your Android Device</a></p><p> </p>