Parents’ responses to their LGBTQ+ child are varied, often intense, and have important consequences for the child. To examine how media depictions may shape responses, a pre-registered online experiment of 494 parents tested effects of viewing two TV narratives, depicting either control (non-LGBTQ+) family interactions, parental rejection, gradual growth toward acceptance, or unalloyed acceptance, of a lesbian or transgender teen, on parents’ support and behavioral intentions regarding their own LGBTQ+ teen. Guided by theories of vicarious contact and inspiring media, we assessed mediation via identification with characters, and via feelings of inspiration and manipulation, testing baseline support as a moderator. Effects of condition were indirect-only, and contingent on baseline support. Among highly supportive parents, growth and acceptance narratives (vs. control) increased feelings of inspiration, which predicted positive behavioral intentions. Among less supportive parents, rejection and (unexpectedly) growth narratives reduced identification with depicted LGBTQ+ teens, indirectly decreasing support and behavioral intentions.
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Mares et al. (2026) studied this question.
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