School-based interventions can help, but repeated exposure and the ability to engage resistant groups are key to shifting social norms
LGBTphobia remains a pervasive issue in schools, limiting students’ well-being and educational opportunities. For many LGBT youth, verbal and physical harassment are part of daily life, leading to higher rates of anxiety, depression, and school dropouts. While various school-based interventions aim to promote tolerance towards minorities, do they actually work?
To answer this question we conducted a large-scale randomized controlled trial in France to evaluate the impact of classroom discussions led by SOS Homophobie, a leading NGO in the combat against LGBT-phobia. These two-hour sessions aimed to challenge stereotypes and foster empathy using perspective-taking techniques, in which students imagine themselves in the position of an LGBT person. Over 10,000 students in 75 schools participated, making this the largest experimental study of its kind.
Our findings provide clear evidence that school-based interventions can reduce LGBTphobia, but only when they shift perceptions of social norms.
Indeed, based on the answers to a questionnaire responded either before for a random half of the student sample or after the intervention for the other half, we find that the intervention had strong, positive effects on awareness about what being LGBT means and lifted taboo on this issue. After the session, students were more comfortable discussing LGBT matters, particularly with teachers and school staff—an important step in fostering inclusivity. The program also improved understanding of the challenges faced by LGBT students, particularly the serious consequences of harassment.
However, while some students became more accepting and willing to take the defense of LGBT people if needed, others reacted negatively. This variation highlights a crucial insight: students’ responses were shaped by how they perceived their peers’ beliefs.
In classes where inclusion was already the norm, students felt more confident in expressing support for LGBT peers. But in classes where anti-LGBT sentiment was strong, the intervention sometimes had the opposite effect, exposing the dominant hostility, which made some students more reluctant to challenge it.
This reveals a fundamental obstacle to tackling discrimination: individual attitudes are deeply influenced by perceived group norms. If students believe their peers are hostile to LGBT inclusion, they may conform to these prejudices, even if they personally disagree.
Accordingly, the intervention had different effects depending on students’ backgrounds. Notably, girls showed stronger positive effects, while some boys reacted negatively, suggesting gendered peer pressures at play. Older students were more open to change, while younger students were more resistant, likely due to stronger peer conformity at earlier ages. And students in more privileged schools responded better, while those in disadvantaged schools showed weaker effects.
Our results highlight an important message for policymakers: brief school-based interventions can help, but they must be part of a sustained effort. Notably, repeated exposure matters: schools that had previous SOS Homophobie interventions saw stronger positive effects, indicating that one-off sessions might not be enough. Besides, adapting programs to resistant groups is important. As such, programs should be designed to engage boys and younger students more effectively, perhaps by using peer-led discussions or male role models. Last but not least, managing peer group dynamics is key. Since perceptions of social norms shape student behavior, interventions should focus on shifting these norms rather than simply exposing them.
© Stéphane Carcillo, Marie-Anne Valfort, and Pedro Vergara Merino
Stéphane Carcillo is Associate Professor at Sciences Po, France, and IZA Research Fellow
Marie-Anne Valfort is is Associate Professor at the Paris School of Economics, France, and IZA Research Fellow
Pedro Vergara Merino is PhD student at the Center for Research in Economics and Statistics (CREST), France
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