KANSAS CITY, Kan., Aug 18, 2003 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A Kansas State University psychology professor has determined that the way we see people on TV colors how we see people in real life.

In a study that focused on how people felt about gay and lesbian characters, Richard Harris asked one group of people to think of a positive gay or lesbian character from a television show. Another group was asked to think of a negative gay or lesbian character. A third group was the control group and asked to think of an unmarried media character.

Each member of the group was then asked to complete a personality rating of that character, followed by a survey of their feelings about gays or lesbians.

Subjects who had been asked to think of a positive gay character had more positive atitudes toward gay people in general than those who had been asked to think of a negative character or the control group who had been asked to think of an unmarried character.

Copyright 2003 by United Press International.

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Last updated: 08/18/2003 - 06:41 PM