Influence of Comedic Movies on Attitudes towards Sexual Orientations of University Students in Kenya

Abstract

This research intended to determine the influence of comedic movies on attitudes towards sexual orientations such as lesbians, gays, bisexuals transgenders and queers (LGBTQs) of university students in Kenya. To study this phenomenon, the main objective was: to determine the influence of comedic movies on attitudes towards sexual orientations of university students in Kenya. The study used four specific objectives namely: To describe the influence of character roles in the comedic movies on attitudes towards sexual orientations of university students in Kenya; to establish the influence of language use in the comedic movies on attitudes towards sexual orientations of university students in Kenya; to determine the influence of the viewing duration of comedic movies on attitudes towards sexual orientations of university students in Kenya, and finally; to examine the moderating effects of parental mediation strategies on attitudes towards sexual orientations of university students in Kenya. Social learning theory (SLT), Social Judgement theory (SJT) and Cultivation theory (CT) were used. The study used convergent parallel mixed methods design. Content analysis of the Modern Family comedic movie containing sexual orientations content was also done. The study population was university students sampled from 7 chartered public and private universities in Nairobi City County. A sample size of 467 students was sampled through probability sampling techniques involving stratified sampling and simple random sampling. Non-probability sampling techniques involving purposive and snowball sampling was used to select 30 focus group discussions-FGDs participants. The research instruments used were questionnaire and interview guide for FGDs. Inferential statistics used were descriptive, correlation, regression and ANOVA analysis. Qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. Parallel triangulation of quantitative and qualitative data was then done. The study findings from quantitative data, FGDs and content analysis revealed that comedic movies use humorous characters, language and viewership duration to introduce and thus influence attitudes towards LGBTQs sexual orientations of university students in Kenya. This was done through positive LGBTQs positive characters and roles, positive language, and content. Consequently, majority of the respondents said they knew a relative or a friend whose sexual orientation is LGBTQs with a significant number of those sampled openly identifying themselves as LGBTQs. However, parental mediation strategies were found to be significantly weaker in moderating both the viewership as well as guiding and educating the youths on sexual orientations. Therefore, the study recommended that better ways be adopted to regulate and control viewership of comedic movies such as the use of comedic movies to create awareness on the presence and effects of LGBTQs sexual orientations so as to guide the youths.