An experiment that revealed some fascinating insights into human nature was the focus of a recent edition of the “MTSU On the Record” radio program.

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Dr. Mark Frame, associate professor of psychology, originally aired June 16 on WMOT-FM (89.5 and www.wmot.org ). You can listen to their conversation here.

Dr. Mark Frame

Frame’s research subjects had to work in teams to solve a problem within an hour after learning through casual conversation that at least one of their colleagues was homosexual.

Some of the participants played the roles of gays and heterosexuals regardless of their real sexual orientations. A control group including role-playing “straights” was also part of the study.

After analyzing the results, Frame and fellow researchers Heather Graham and Jared Kenworthy found that even one hour of interpersonal contact lessened the unease felt by people with negative views of gays and lesbians.

“We actually had an age range that was up to 53 in this particular study,” Frame said, “so we had undergraduates who ran the gamut in terms of age and experience, and most of them were working.”

To listen to previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, go to the “Audio Clips” archives here and here.

For more information about “MTSU On the Record,” contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

To read Frame’s research, as published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, go to http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jasp.12246/pdf.

A video snippet of the interview is available below.