EMPIRICAL RESEARCH Ecological Covariates of Subtle and Blatant Heterosexist Discrimination Among LGBQ College Students Jun Sung Hong 1,2 • Michael R. Woodford 3 • Larry D. Long 4 • Kristen A. Renn 5 Received: 22 September 2015 / Accepted: 26 September 2015 / Published online: 13 October 2015 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015 Abstract Sexual minority college students report expe- riencing interpersonal heterosexism, ranging from subtle insults to blatant physical violence. Such negative experi- ences can complicate developmental tasks common to adolescence and emerging adulthood. Studies examining the nature of heterosexism on college campuses have focused on blatant manifestations, yet subtle forms are more prevalent. Guided by ecological theory, we investi- gate the microsystem (e.g., perceived social support from friends, ambient heterosexism on campus), mesosystem (e.g., interaction between social support and ambient heterosexism), and macrosystem level (e.g., knowledge of gay-straight alliances on campus) covariates of interper- sonal microaggressions, avoidance behaviors, verbal threats, and physical threats. Participants consisted of 530 self-identified LGBQ college students from 37 states. Regression results suggest that at the microsystem level, ambient heterosexism was positively associated with interpersonal microaggressions, avoidance behaviors, and verbal threats. At the mesosystem level, perceptions of LGBQ student support within one’s institution moderated the effects of ambient heterosexism on three types of interpersonal heterosexism. At the macrosystem level, students who reported knowing that their campus had a sexual-orientation inclusive anti-discrimination policy reported encountering fewer verbal threats. Directions for future research and implications for campus programming are discussed. Keywords College campus Á Ecological theory Á Heterosexism Á LGBQ Á Microaggressions Introduction Late adolescence and emerging adulthood represent critical developmental periods that are characterized by establish- ing one’s identity, future goals, and meaningful intimate relationships with others. Young adults typically leave home at age 18 or 19 and are situated in a new social environment, such as college where they have opportuni- ties to explore and establish their independence and iden- tity in domains, such as education, work, and sexuality (Arnett 2014; Cote 2006; Kroger and Marcia 2011; Morgan 2012). Although some youth ‘‘come out’’ as sexual minorities during early- and mid-adolescence, many do so during emerging adulthood (Calzo et al. 2011), a period & Jun Sung Hong fl4684@wayne.edu; fl4684@skku.edu Michael R. Woodford mwoodford@wlu.ca Larry D. Long ldlong@msu.edu Kristen A. Renn renn@msu.edu 1 School of Social Work, Wayne State University, 4756 Cass Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202, USA 2 Department of Social Welfare, Humanities and Social Science Campus, Sungkyunkwan University, 61505 Suseon Hall, 25-2 Sungkyunkwan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea 3 Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University, 120 Duke Street West, Kitchener, ON N2H 3W8, Canada 4 Michigan State University, 49 Abbot Road, MSU Union Room 326, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA 5 Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education, Michigan State University, 620 Farm Lane - Room 425, East Lansing, MI 48824-1034, USA 123 J Youth Adolescence (2016) 45:117–131 DOI 10.1007/s10964-015-0362-5