Do apples fall not far from the tree?: An Exploratory research on the influence of parents to their children's attitudes toward the LGBTQ+ community

• Main Authors: Bayaua, Gwenevie Q., Beltran, Franz Joseph B., Rodrigo, Rei Czelle M.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2021
• Subjects: queer, LGBT, family, relationship, attitude
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/conf_shsrescon/2021/paper_ghi/7; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/conf_shsrescon/article/1645/viewcontent/GHDI__Do_apples_fall_not_far_from_the_tree.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

The parent-child interaction is the first social connection a child would engage within their life. A part of this relationship is how parents develop their child in the physical, mental, and emotional aspects. These varying aspects then extend to the attitudes and perceptions the child may have toward different aspects of life, including social issues such as those concerning the LGBTQ+ community. The following study seeks to explore the influence of parents to their children’s attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community. It is in this context that this study is proposed where the assumption is that the parents’ attitude towards queer identity and community will be shared with their child. The study had gathered its data from 18 selfidentified cisgender and heterosexual De La Salle University senior high-school adolescents in Metro Manila who are at or above the age of 18. Contrary to the research assumption, it was found that majority of the respondents had a positive perception of the LGBTQ+ community and its members despite some parents having homophobic or generally negative perceptions and tendencies towards the community. This implies that adolescents possess a certain level of agency when it comes to relating and empathizing with minority communities, particularly that of the LGBTQ+ community. Given these results, the researchers of the study recommend that future explorations on the subject delve into studying the thought process of those below the age of 18, particularly those who are 12-17 years old, in order to gauge the potential difference and similarity in perspective.