The influence of group values and behavior on adolescent male perceptions of and use of homophobic language.

•Group membership influenced how students chose to use or abstain from using HL.•Three groups emerged from our study: debate team, conservative religious, and popular athletes.•The debate team avoided HL that targeted LGBTQIA persons but argued HL was often not homophobic.•Conservative religious students avoided most HL but also avoided LGBTQIA individuals.•Popular athletes frequently used HL to strengthen within-group bonding and maintain social hierarchy.