Psychological Predictors of Homophobic Bullying Among Adolescents and Young Adults: The Role of Parental Psychological Control and Sensation Seeking

We aimed to investigate the relationship between homophobic bullying, parental psychological control and sensation seeking among adolescents and young adults and to examine the mediating role of sensation seeking. The participants included 394 adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 20 years attending the 3rd, 4th and 5th years of two public high schools in Italian cities. Participants completed the Homophobic Bullying Scale, the Dependency—oriented and Achievement—oriented Parental Psychological Control, and the Sensation—Seeking Scale. The results showed that parental psychological control predicted bullying toward gay and lesbian people. However, the two dimensions of sensation seeking (thrill and adventure seeking, and disinhibition) represented two mediators in the relationship between parental psychological control, both achievement and dependency—oriented, and homophobic bullying. Highlights Psychological parental control may play a key role in the genesis of homophobic bullying during adolescence and young adulthood. Sensation seeking may encourage homophobic bullying in adolescence and young adulthood. Sensation seeking may play a key role in the relationship between parental control and homophobic bullying.