The Role of Gay Men Norm on Reaction to Deviance

Individuals tend to evaluate deviant ingroup more negatively than outgroup members, as predicted by the black sheep effect. We analyzed this phenomenon in four studies based on the reaction of gay men towards a deviant (vs. normative) ingroup (vs. outgroup) member. In a qualitative study (Study 1; N = 49), gay men participants indicated the normative (e.g., egalitarian), deviant (e.g., discriminatory) and threatening (effeminate) behaviors of gay men’s identity. In Studies 2 (N = 242) and 3 (N = 264), we manipulated the target’s group membership (gay vs. straight) and social behavior (normative vs. deviant) based on the contents of the results from Study 1, whereas in Study 4 (N = 131), we manipulated gay identity threat. The results showed that the effect of deviation was stronger when the participants evaluated the ingroup target only when we made the threat to gay man identity salient, and this effect was mediated by the perceived illegitimacy of the target's social behavior.