INDONESIAN STUDENTS’ PREJUDICE AGAINST HOMOSEXUALS: RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM AND INTERGROUP THREAT AS PREDICTORS

The research aimed to examine and explain the relationship between religious fundamentalism and intergroup threats toward undergraduate students’ prejudice against gays and lesbians. Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, a slogan about tolerance, is supposed to protect and enhance diversity in Indonesia. On the contrary, sexual minority groups, gays and lesbians, often accept stereotypes, prejudices


INTRODUCTION
Indonesia is famous for its multicultural culture, which is characterized by diverse races, ethnicities, cultures, religions, languages, and groups. Bhinneka Tunggal Ika is the motto of the Indonesian nation which means unity in diversity and teaches people about tolerance. However, contrary to this motto, there are many conflicts between the majority and minority social groups in Indonesia due to ethnic, religious, cultural, and other factors (Nakaya, 2017;Nawi et al., 2019;Regus, 2020;Setiawan et al., 2020;Takdir, Musthafa, & Rozinah, 2021).
One of the minority social groups is homosexuals (gays and lesbians), a part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community. Homosexuality is a sexual orientation that is indicated by sexual, romantic, and emotional attraction to the same sex (Fausto-sterling, 2019;Sujana, Setyawati, & Ujanti , 2018). In Indonesia, gays and lesbians are considered sinners because their lifestyles are different from what is considered 'ordinary' and 'right', according to Indonesia's religious and cultural values (Garnesia, 2019;Mansur, 2017).
Some of the discriminatory acts from Indonesian people towards gays and lesbians can be seen in lots of protests to repel the existence of LGBT in Indonesia (Awaluddin, 2018;Berutu, 2020). These protests are based on the belief that LGBT is a disease, a sin, and a religious deviation. This action is also believed to protect the young generation of Indonesian from becoming homosexuals. Apart from society, the Indonesian government (i.e., the Mayor of Aceh, Depok, Pariaman, Regional Representative Council, and civil servants) also reacts negatively and is discriminatory to LGBT. Some of these discriminatory actions are shown in regional regulations related to fines, social sanctions, and prison sentences for LGBT in Aceh (Setyadi, 2019) and the exclusion of LGBT applicants on Candidates for Civil Servants (CPNS) in 2019 (Putra, 2019).
The survey conducted by Tirto and Jajak Pendapat (Jakpat) platform shows that the majority of Indonesians perceive LGBT as wrong behavior (86,8%), deviant (52,8%), and needs to be cured medically (32,5%) and religiously (29,6%) (Garnesia, 2019). The researchers also conduct a preliminary survey of student views regarding gays and lesbians. The participants are Indonesian students aged 18 to 22 years with various scientific and religious backgrounds. As a result, most of the participants have a negative view of gays and lesbians, namely sins (37,5%), diseases that must be cured (35%), and lack of faith (20%).
In social psychology, negative views about gays and lesbians are called stereotypes. The social psychology approach assumes that one person's attitude is strongly influenced by his/her thoughts or beliefs, in other words, stereotypes (Myers & Twenge, 2018). Stereotypes are information related to certain social groups, which are generalized to all group members (Jones, Dovidio, & Vietze, 2014;Myers & Twenge, 2018). Stereotypes are usually negative and false and are strongly influenced by parents, peers, and the media (Kite, Bernard, & Whitley, 2016). Negative stereotypes will lead to prejudice, negative attitudes, and judgments toward social groups and their members. According to Jones, Dovidio, and Vietze (2014), prejudice has three components, namely cognitive (irrational beliefs), affective (negative feelings), and behavioral (negative behavioral tendencies).
Prejudice can be caused by various internal factors such as personal values, personality, and low empathy or even external factors such as lack of contact and differences between groups (Kite, Bernard, & Whitley, 2016;Molina, Tropp, & Goode, 2016;Myers & Twenge, 2018). One of the personal values is religion, which becomes guidelines or references for individuals in responding to situations and other people in their lives (Kite, Bernard, & Whitley, 2016). Religion is a systematic and orderly set of beliefs that aims to worship and serve supernatural characters (Schwadel et al., 2021). In addition, religion also has conservative values or doctrines that its adherents must obey.
Indonesia is known as a religious country that provides freedom for people to adhere to their respective religions. In 2021, there were 86,77% adherents of Islam; 7,49% adherents of Christianity; 3,09% adherents of the Catholic religion; 0,75% Buddhists; and 0,03% of adherents of the Confucian religion in Indonesia (Nathanael, 2021). A survey conducted by Pew Research Center in 2019 shows that the majority of Indonesians consider the role of God and religion to be very important in life (Tamir, Connaughton, & Salazar, 2020). From a religious point of view, gays and lesbians are contrary to religious teachings that only consider relationships between men and women as normal. In fact, in the scriptures of Islam, Christianity, and Catholicism, there are also written prohibitions about homosexual behavior because it is considered a major sin and deserves punishment (Mansur, 2017).
Previous research has examined many religious contexts with prejudice against gays and lesbians; one of them is religious fundamentalism. The results of previous studies indicate that individuals with higher religious fundamentalism have significantly higher prejudice. Religious fundamentalism is the belief that in this world, religious teachings are the only source of truth that all human beings must follow in carrying out life (Altemeyer & Hunsberger, 1992). The teachings of religious books are taken literally by religious fundamentalists. Any behavior that is deviant and contrary to religion is a sin. The judgment that gays and lesbians are sinners and potentially harmful is considered prejudice.
Social phenomena also show that some people think that gays and lesbians have the potential to bring harm, damage the younger generation, or undermine Eastern religious and cultural values. This thinking can also be called an intergroup threat. Intergroup threat happens when one social group feels threatened by another group. The perceived threat can be related to material resources or differences in views or values of life (Stephan, Ybarra, & Morrison, 2016).
Based on these explanations, it is found that there is prejudice in Indonesian society against gays and lesbians as sexual minorities. This is, of course, contrary to the slogan of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, which teaches the value of tolerance in diversity. The implementation of Pancasila values in protecting human rights has not been able to protect the rights of gay and lesbian groups to the fullest. Moreover, prejudice is also shown by students, who are supposed to be intellectual, critical, and objective individuals. In fact, students' thoughts and feelings towards gays and lesbians tend to be negatively influenced by religion as their core values.
If these negative stereotypes and prejudice are left-prolonged, they can lead to discrimination, the negative treatment against social groups and/or their members (Myers & Twenge, 2018). Discrimination can be carried out by individuals, groups, or certain social organizations and institutions. Discrimination negatively impacts the victims' physical and psychological state, such as depression, anxiety, stress, and low self-esteem (Kite, Bernard, & Whitley, 2016;Williams et al., 2019).
The novelty of the research is the incorporation of personal and social antecedents of prejudice, using modified measuring instruments (RFS-12) and additional analysis to answer previous research suggestions (Arli, Badejo, & Sutanto, 2019; Pal & Sinha, 2016). Therefore, the research aims to examine and explain the relationship between religious fundamentalism and intergroup threats with student prejudice against gays and lesbians. The research could be beneficial in theoretical and practical ways, such as a reference to similar studies of prejudice, providing information and increasing awareness about homosexuals' prejudice in Indonesia, and promoting society's positive attitudes towards gays and lesbians.
The researchers hypothesize that students with higher religious fundamentalism and/or intergroup threat have significantly higher prejudice against gays and lesbians. The hypotheses used in the research consist of major hypotheses (H1) and two minor hypotheses (H2 & H3), which are described: H1: There is a positive relationship between religious fundamentalism, intergroup threat, and student prejudice against gays and lesbians. H2: There is a positive relationship between religious fundamentalism and student prejudice against gays and lesbians. H3: There is a positive relationship between intergroup threat and student prejudice against gays and lesbians.

METHODS
The research applies a cross-sectional survey design, and the data are collected online from September to October 2021. Participants are selected using accidental sampling. The research subjects are undergraduate students aged 18 to 24 years, studying at multicultural and religion-based universities located in Surabaya, identified as heterosexuals, with various religious backgrounds and scientific disciplines (N = 414). The religion-based universities consist of Christian, Catholic, and Islam. The majority of participants are women (51,93%; n=215), aged 18 years (28,02%; n=116), Muslim (45,65%; n=189), undergraduates from multicultural universities (53,14%; n=224), and social sciences studies (63,53%; n=263).
Prejudice toward gays and lesbians is measured by the Attitudes toward Lesbian and Gay Men Scale (ATLG) (Herek, 1988). ATLG consists of 20 items with two dimensions, attitudes toward lesbians and attitudes toward gay men. Religious fundamentalism is measured by the Revised Religious Fundamentalism Scale (RFS-12) (Altemeyer & Hunsberger, 2004). RFS-12 consists of 12 items and is a unidimensional measuring instrument.
Intergroup threat is measured by the Perceived Threat of Homosexuals Scale (PTHS) (Tjipto, Mayawati, & Bernardo, 2019). PTHS consists of seven items with two dimensions, namely realistic threats and symbolic threats. Finally, there are questionnaires to collect demographic data and open-ended questions. The questionnaire is distributed through social media, such as Instagram, Line, Telegram, and Whatsapp. Data analysis consisted of a reliability test, assumption test (normality, multicollinearity, and heteroscedasticity), hypothesis test (multiple and partial regression analysis), and additional analysis. The data are analyzed using JASP (Jeffrey's Amazing Statistics Program) version 0.15.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Before discussing the main results of the research, Table 1 presents the statistical descriptive variables.  Table 2 shows the results of the reliability test. It can be seen that the three measuring instruments and their aspects are reliable. Cronbach's alpha is more than 0,6, and the corrected total item correlation (CITC) value is more than 0,3. However, RFS-12 has three items removed. The normality test is conducted using standardized residuals, which are presented in Figure  1. From Figure 1, it can be seen that the bell-shaped curve is balanced, which means that the distribution of the research's data is considered normal.   Table 3 contains the results of the multicollinearity test. It is known that the collinearity tolerance is 0,755 (>0,01), and the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) is 1,324 (<10). That is, it can be concluded that there is no multicollinearity. Furthermore, Table 4 shows the categorization of three variables used in the research. From Table 4, it is known that the majority of participants scored 'high' for both prejudice and intergroup threat; meanwhile, most participants scored 'average' for religious fundamentalism.  Table 5 shows the results of multiple and partial linear regression analysis. The analysis shows that all hypotheses used in the research (H1, H2, and H3) are accepted (p = 0,001; p < 0,05). It means there is a significant and positive relationship between religious fundamentalism (X1), intergroup threat (X2), and students' prejudice towards gays and lesbians (R = 0,872; F = 654,817; p < 0,001). Religious fundamentalism and intergroup threats can predict students' prejudice towards gays and lesbians by 76,1%. The other 23,9% may be explained by other variables (demographic, additional analysis, etc). Partially, intergroup threat (β = 0,734; t = 26,455; p < 0,001) has a greater influence on student's prejudice against gays and lesbians than religious fundamentalism itself (β = 0,232; t = 8,375; p < 0,001).
Based on Table 5, the multiple linear regression equation of the research is shown by this equation:Based on Table 5 Table 6 also presents Pearson's correlation between all research variables and their corresponding aspects. From Table 6, it can be concluded that there is a significant and positive correlation between prejudice against gays and lesbians and religious fundamentalism (r = 0,595; p < 0,001). Prejudice and intergroup threat also has a positive and significant relationship (r = 0,849; p < 0,001). It means that when religious fundamentalism and/or intergroup threat increases, students' prejudice towards gays and lesbians will also increase.
The results of the research (Tables 5 and 6) are in line with the results of previous research, which finds a positive relationship between religious fundamentalism and student prejudice in Denpasar, Makassar, and Surabaya towards gay (β = 0,42; p < 0,001) and lesbian (β = 0,67; p < 0,001) (Arli, Badejo, & Sutanto, 2019), as well as Indian society's prejudice against gays and lesbians (β = 0,31; p < 0,05) (Pal & Sinha, 2016). This supports the theory related to personal values as an internal antecedent of prejudice. Personal values in this context are religion, which does not condone homosexual behavior or relationships between same-sex people. As a result, homosexual behavior is seen as a sin, disgrace, unusual, or curse. Religious fundamentalism believes that humans must live based on religion and God's teachings that contain absolute truth (Altemeyer & Hunsberger, 1992). Therefore, gays and lesbians are perceived negatively as people who are immoral and sinful.
The positive relationship between intergroup threats and prejudice is in line with previous research in the context of indigenous ethnic in Medan that shows symbolic and realistic threats toward foreign investors in Indonesia (Adira & Halida, 2021) as well as a symbolic and realistic threat toward immigrants (Nshom & Croucher, 2017). These findings support the theory about social identity, the external antecedent of prejudice (Myers & Twenge, 2018). The existence of social identity makes individuals view outgroups more negatively. Outgroups in this context are gays and lesbians (homosexuals). The intergroup threat appears in a symbolic form because Indonesian people are anxious and afraid that Eastern religious and cultural values will be damaged or replaced if gays and lesbians keep on increasing (Stephan, Ybarra, & Morrison, 2016). In addition, people are also afraid that gays and lesbians will have a bad influence on the younger generation, for example, bringing misfortune or infecting people to become one of them.
Additional analyses of the research are presented in Tables 7 and 8. Table 7 shows that there are significant differences in students' prejudice scores in terms of demographic variables (such as gender, religion, university characteristics, and academic disciplines) (p < 0,05). Meanwhile, Table 8 shows that there are significant differences in students' prejudice in terms of having acquaintances, quality and quantity of contact with gays and lesbians, empathy, and membership or participation in religious communities (p < 0,05).
According to Schwadel et al. (2021), religion is valued, which encourages individuals to respond positively (if in accordance with beliefs) or negatively (if not in accordance with beliefs). Moreover, the nature of religion is more dogmatic and conservative, thus enabling religious adherents to commit to following religious teachings. Therefore, the more religious an individual is, the more likely the individual will perceive gays and lesbians negatively.
Furthermore, Table 7 also shows that students from multicultural universities have lower prejudice than students from religion-based universities (p = 0,042; p < 0,05). It should be noted that the religion-based universities in the research are Islam, Christianity, and Catholicism, with clear boundaries and prohibitions regarding gays and lesbians in their scriptures. Religion-based universities also tend to be homogeneous or from similar or similar social backgrounds. On the other hand, multicultural universities allow students from diverse social backgrounds to interact with each other and establish interpersonal relationships (Alghamdi, 2017;Halualani, 2008). The assumption is that the students are more open and easily adapt to diversity between individuals and are better at applying the value of tolerance (Fihris, 2020). Multicultural education can help students develop knowledge regarding differences between social groups, tolerance and mutual respect for others, and even increase positive interactions through direct exposure to students with different norms or beliefs (Kite, Bernard, & Whitley, 2016).
In addition to university characteristics, students from social sciences and humanities disciplines have lower prejudice than exact sciences (p < 0,001). Social science disciplines focus on studying matters relating to humans as living beings ranging from behavior, psychology, and relationships with other people (Ingthorsson, 2013). Moreover, the majority of social science discipline participants in this research are psychology students. It is assumed that psychology students have objective knowledge regarding homosexuality which is not considered a disorder, deviation, or even life choice. Precise and accurate information can prevent negative stereotypes that can lead to prejudice (Myers & Twenge, 2018). Table 8 shows that participants who do not have gay or lesbian acquaintances have higher prejudice (p < 0,001; p < 0,05). According to contact hypothesis theory, interaction or contact between groups can have a positive impact on cognitive (increasing accurate information about the outgroup), affective (the presence of closeness, positive feelings, and a sense of empathy), and behavior (openness) (Jones, Dovidio, & Vietze, 2014;Pettigrew & Tropp, 2008). The positive quality of contact with at least one of the group members can lead to generalizations and positively impact the outgroup as a whole. In line with this theory, participants with fewer and negative quality contact have higher prejudice than those with frequent and positive contact (Table 8). In line with the research, some previous studies also find that positive intergroup contact correlated negatively with prejudice in the context of ethnic (Sudiana et al., 2020), homosexuals (Maunder, Day, & White, 2020;Yeck & Anderson, 2018), race (Lissitsa & Kushnirovich, 2019), religion (Abrams et al., 2017), and transgender people (Greenburg & Gaia, 2019).
Finally, the empathy factor also affects the level of prejudice (p < 0,001). Based on the open-ended questionnaires, participants that oppose discrimination against gays and lesbians and show empathy towards them have lower prejudice. Empathy can be defined as, "An individual's ability to understand and share the point of view of others and to respond emotionally to what is felt" (Jones, Dovidio, & Vietze, 2014;Kite, Bernard, & Whitley, 2016). In this context, empathy allows individuals to imagine and feel how gays and lesbians live their life. They receive a lot of negative judgment and treatment just because of their sexual orientation. Some previous studies have also proven a negative relationship between empathy and prejudice in various contexts such as disability, homosexuality, immigrants, mental illness, race, and religion (Álvarez-Castillo, Fernández-Caminero, & González-González, 2018;Foster, Elischberger, & Hill, 2018;Greenburg & Gaia, 2019;Marsden & Barnett, 2020;Onraet et al., 2017;Pontania, Mini, & Salim, 2019;Sterkenburg, Olivier, & Van Rensburg, 2019).

CONCLUSIONS
Based on the results and discussions, it can be concluded that religious fundamentalism and intergroup threats explain student prejudice against gays and lesbians by 76,1%. That means the higher the religious fundamentalism and intergroup threat, the higher the prejudice against gays and lesbians. Partially, intergroup threats have a more important role in generating prejudice against gays and lesbians, which is 72%, because of the feeling of being threatened symbolically. Meanwhile, the influence of religious fundamentalism is more negligible (4,1%).
The results of the research are consistent with previous research related to prejudice in the sexual context, as well as religious, ethnic, cultural, and intergroup prejudices. The research is expected to provide informative knowledge regarding the dynamics of prejudice against gays and lesbians in Indonesia. In addition, it can be a reference for individuals' thoughts, feelings, and behavior toward gays and lesbians, as well as the government in making policies related to gays and lesbians to accomplish tolerance. Through the open-ended questionnaire, it can be seen that prejudice against gays and lesbians can be reduced by increasing positive contact (having acquaintances, frequently interacting or communicating, positive or meaningful relationships, etc.) and positive feelings (empathy).
The strength of the research lies in the research method, where the number of participants is balanced by gender and religion according to the Indonesian population. The weakness of the research is the unbalanced number of participants in terms of university origin and academic disciplines (exact, humanities, and social).
In order to equalize the number of participants, future researchers are advised to use proportional sampling based on the criteria needed. Moreover, further research can consider using contact or empathy as independent variables, mediators, or moderators. Future researchers could also use experimental designs to see the effectiveness of independent factors such as empathy or contact in reducing prejudice. Lastly, religious fundamentalism researchers in the future can use different samples such as non-students, religious leaders, or cities that are deeply involved in religious values.