Is subjective ambivalence toward gays a modern form of bias?

• Examines subjective ambivalence (SA) toward gays as modern bias.
• SA associated with anti-gay, not pro-gay, attitudes.
• SA associated with correlates of anti-gay prejudice and opposing gay rights.
• SA predicts lower opposition to gay bullying through lower empathy.
• Findings consistent with modern biases (e.g., aversive racism).

Theoretically, modern racism and sexism are characterized by ambivalence. We directly examined the consequence of being higher in subjective ambivalence toward gays (i.e. attitudes that feel “torn”) with regard to gay rights support. In Study 1, greater subjective ambivalence was associated with more negative attitudes (and not more positive attitudes), more ideological opposition to gays, more negative intergroup emotions, and less gay rights support. In Study 2, less opposition to gay bullying was predicted by: (a) greater subjective ambivalence (through lower intergroup empathy); and (b) experimentally-salient bullying justification norms (through lower collective guilt). These effects held controlling for Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gay Men (i.e., traditional negative attitudes). Although not overtly negative, individual differences in subjective ambivalence tap a unique, subtle, and less objectionable form of bias, consistent with aversive racism and justification–suppression frameworks of explaining modern biases.