Geography of Stigma Management

Exposure to heterosexist discrimination may vary by a person's place of residency. Utilizing a minority stress perspective, an online survey of self-identified lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals (n = 285) examined whether rural and small town inhabitants experienced greater exposure to six types of enacted stigma. After comparing the frequency of enacted stigma by community type, findings demonstrated that rural

Journal of Counseling Psychology, 2009

This article describes a social psychological framework for understanding sexual stigma, and it reports data on sexual minority individuals' stigma-related experiences. The framework distinguishes between stigma's manifestations in society's institutions (heterosexism) and among individuals. The latter include enacted sexual stigma (overt negative actions against sexual minorities, such as hate crimes), felt sexual stigma (expectations about the circumstances in which sexual stigma will be enacted), and internalized sexual stigma (personal acceptance of sexual stigma as part of one's value system and self-concept). Drawing from previous research on internalized sexual stigma among heterosexuals (i.e., sexual prejudice), the article considers possible parallels in how sexual minorities experience internalized sexual stigma (i.e., self-stigma, or negative attitudes toward the self). Data are presented from a community sample of lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults (N ϭ 2,259) to illustrate the model's utility for generating and testing hypotheses concerning self-stigma.

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2009

Lesbians and gay men frequently make decisions about concealing or disclosing their stigmatized identity. Past research has found that disclosing one's sexual orientation is often beneficial. This study aimed to answer the question, “why?”. Specifically, this study tested a model in which perceived social support, emotional processing, and suppression mediate the association between disclosure and well-being. To capture disclosure decisions in real time, participants completed a 2-week daily diary study and a 2-month follow-up survey. As expected, participants generally reported greater well-being on days when they disclosed (vs. concealed) their sexual orientation. Perceived social support was a consistent predictor of well-being and mediator of the association between disclosure and well-being. Although less consistent across time and measures, emotional processing and to a lesser extent suppression were also significantly associated with disclosure and well-being. This resear...

Journal of Applied Communication Research, 2010

Numerous scholars have noted the disproportionately high number of gay and lesbian workers in certain occupations, but systematic explanations for this type of occupational segregation remain elusive. Drawing on the literatures on concealable stigma and stigma management, we develop a theoretical framework predicting that gay men and lesbians will concentrate in occupations that provide a high degree of task independence or require a high level of social perceptiveness, or both. Using several distinct measures of sexual orientation, and controlling for potential confounds, we find support for these predictions across two nationally representative surveys in the United States. Consistent with prior research, lesbian and gay workers are more likely than heterosexual workers to cross gender lines in occupations, but even after controlling for this tendency, we show that common to both lesbians and gay men is a propensity to concentrate in those lines of work that are associated with relatively high levels of task independence or social perceptiveness, or both. This study points to a more comprehensive theory of occupational segregation on the basis of minority sexual orientation and holds implications for the literatures on stigma, occupations, and labor markets.

Work on structural stigma shows how public policy affects health outcomes for members of devalued groups, including sexual minorities. In the current research, structural stigma is proposed as a moderating variable that strengthens deleterious associations between perceived discrimination and social relationship functioning. Hypotheses were tested in two cross-sectional studies, including both online (N = 214; Study 1) and community (N = 94; Study 2) samples of sexual minority men and women residing throughout the United States. Structural stigma was coded from policy related to sexual minority rights within each state. Confirming hypotheses, support for the moderating role of structural stigma was found via multilevel models across studies. Specifically, associations between perceived discrimination and friendship strain, loneliness (Study 1) and familial strain (Study 2) were increased for those who resided in states with greater levels of structural stigma and attenuated for those who resided in states with lesser levels. In Study 1, these results were robust to state-level covariates (conservatism and religiosity), but conservatism emerged as a significant moderator in lieu of structural stigma in Study 2. Results are discussed in the context of the shifting landscape of public policy related to sexual minority rights within the United States.

2018

There is increasing evidence that sexual minority individuals experience high levels of stigma associated with their sexuality, and this stigma is detrimental to the health of sexual and gender minority persons. However, the majority of this research has involved indivudals in urban settings. The overall aim of this work is to examine these knowledge gaps for these dyads and rural individuals, understudied subpopulations about whom there has been a paucity of research. This dissertation included three separate but highly related studies, each with its own specific aim. The first study examined the association between self-reported sexuality-based stigma and self-reported depression among a nationally representative online sample of 771 rural sexual minority persons. Using multiple and binary regression modeling, significant associations were demonstrated between three types of stigma (internalized, enacted, and anticipated) and clinically significant depression for this population. The second study used a multilevel modeling technique known as actor partner interdependence modeling (APIM) to examine aspects of dyadic functioning that contribute to the maintenance of health behaviors that prevent new HIV infection. Among a sample of 270 partnerships, hypothesized associations between stigma and adverse outcomes were not demonstrated. However, relationship satisfaction was significantly associated with three communal coping outcome scales (planning and decision-making, communication, and joint effort) as antecedents to the maintenance of health-enhancing behaviors. The third study also involved male couples, but utilized qualitative thematic analysis to explore how individuals in 30 same-sex male partnerships describe their experiences of coping with sexuality-based stigma, as well as the meaning they ascribe to those experiences. This was viii accomplished by analyzing transcribed interviews of male couples discussing stigmatizing events during their relationships and coping strategies used to manage those events. Results from this study indicated same-sex male couples utilize a number of both adapative and maladaptive coping mechanisms, though adaptive strategies were more commonly reported. Couples placed particular emphasis on the importance of social support, as well as specific stigma management strategies such as avoidance, concealment, anticipating stigma, and purposefully living as openly gay men. Results indicated the need to tailor existing theory to address this population. Despite recent gains made in human rights and social justice for sexual minority persons, what has already been done is not enough. LGBT persons still endure an unfair distribution of decreased benefits and increased burdens in both healthcare and research. This dissertation work aims to establish equity for this disadvantaged population by increasing their representation in research. These results address gaps in knowledge and inform recommendations for future research, interventions, laws, policies, and clinical practice to address these health disparities and protect the health of this vulnerable population. Future research and interventions that are evidence-based, theoretically driven, and formed with the help of the community they serve will have the greatest capacity for improving the health of LGBT persons, both for individuals and for couples. National policy changes must be made to prohibit stigma and discrimination in all domains that might impact social determinants of health, including housing, employment, and healthcare to create comprehensive protections. With changes made informed by this research, the social benefit of this work lies in potential disparity reduction, establishing equity for this disadvantaged population. risk and protective factors, health services, and contextual influences" (IOM report, 2011, p. 23). Broadly stated, the health of LGBT individuals is poorer compared to heterosexual persons (Conron et al., 2010; Wallace et al., 2011; Fredriksen-Goldsen et al., 2014). Sexual and gender minority persons suffer from poorer mental health, depression, anxiety, and suicide ideation at higher rates that heterosexual persons (Diamant & Wold,

2020

Background: Compared to heterosexual individuals, sexual minorities (e.g., those identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual) are at higher risk of several mental health problems, including suicidality, substance abuse, depression, and anxiety. Research has attributed much of these elevated risks to unique and chronic stress experiences, so-called minority stress, relating to the stigma and prejudice that many sexual minorities face. Less is known about how sexual minority stigma may function as a multilevel socio-ecological system that includes stigma-related risk factors at various levels, such as the structural (e.g., negative population attitudes and discriminatory laws and policies), interpersonal (e.g., victimization and harassment), and individual level (e.g., internalization of negative societal attitudes and concealment of sexual identity), to drive poor mental health among sexual minorities. Such a socio-ecological system of sexual minority stigma may feature unique character...

2011

oming out of the closet is generally viewed by people within the queer communities and "liberal" others as a good thing. The ability to be authentic, engage with fellow members of a community, and form close, meaningful relationships with others of the same sex must surely be seen as goals anyone would desire-sort of like joining the Scouts or Guides. Why then are so many members of these communities plagued by mental health issues? While I wholly agree with Moradi, Mohr, Worthington, and Fassinger (2009) that "defining a sexual minority population of focus carries with it challenging scientific (and political) tensions and consequences" (p. 6), the length and scope of this piece necessitates choices about population groups. I am choosing to simplify the discussion by focusing on gay or lesbian identified individuals and regret that space considerations do not permit a fuller discussion of bisexual, transgendered, and other queer identities. According to , "Theories of identity development among lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGB) suggest that … overcoming internalized homophobia is essential to the development of a healthy self-concept" (p. 98). For , "It is imperative that counseling psychologists adequately assess and address external and internalized heterosexism" (p. 616), because, as Hatzenbuehler (2009) comments after a comprehensive review of the research, "stigma-related stress ultimately influences the pathogenesis of mental health among sexual minorities" (p. 710). The term coming out is considered herein to be the process whereby one's assumption, present throughout one's early years, that one has an exclusively heterosexual orientation is gradually replaced by the recognition of a homosexual

2018

This study examined public heterosexual identity management practices of heterosexual-identified young adults in the United States. Analysis of 415 participants’ written narratives indicated that 41% (n = 169) described consciously engaging in public displays of their heterosexual status in relation to suspicion about their sexual orientation. This article describes our findings regarding five aspects of these narratives of suspicion: types of suspicion, causes of suspicion, reasons for concern about suspicion, the types of public displays of heterosexual status employed to quell suspicion, and intended audiences for these displays. Overall, the results indicated that heterosexual identity suspicion is multifaceted, this suspicion serves as a catalyst for public displays of heterosexual status, and the climate of suspicion described by our participants reflects and reinforces contemporary heterosexism