Factors Associated With Indian Youth’s Attitudes Towards Sexuality

Prejudice is both common and often extreme in India, especially regarding sexuality, which remains a deeply taboo subject. This taboo may contribute to discrimination and alienation of LGBTQIA+ individuals. By studying the factors associated with beliefs in younger generations (ages 12-25), we can add to our understanding of how these prejudices form and how to mostly effectively change them. The paper uses a literature review to synthesize and draw inference from available data on the subject. Two databases, Google Scholar and The International Journal of Indian Psychology in July and August 2024 were used. This review included thirteen studies based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria and identified ten key factors. Among these factors, two had consistent data behind them (contact and knowledge of sexuality); three had inconsistent results (gender, religion and area of living) and five were only researched in one study (emotional intelligence, friends’ acceptance of homosexuality, mother’s education level, just world belief, right-wing authoritarianism). There is limited empirical research conducted on this topic and, due to methodological restrictions, no causal relationships could be established. Regardless, correlations with attitude were found for a number of different factors. Future research should consider exploring larger, more diverse samples and investigating additional factors to deepen our understanding of this topic.