Abstract
Using survey data of 494 college students from two universities in China, this study explores the effects of traditional culture (filial piety, parental attitudes toward homosexuality, and attitudes toward sexuality) and social changes accompanying modernization (intergroup contact and exposure to homosexuality in the media) on attitudes toward homosexuality as well as gay and lesbian people in China. This study finds that Chinese college students generally hold accepting attitudes toward homosexuality, although the extent of tolerance is limited, and is affected by various factors. Traditional cultural factors predict less tolerance for homosexuality and gay and lesbian people, whereas modernizing factors predict greater tolerance. Although both traditional and modernizing factors shape contemporary attitudes toward homosexuality in Chinese society, modernizing variables seem to have a greater impact. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.