Predicting self-esteem, well-being, and distress in a cohort of gay men: the importance of cultural stigma, personal visibility, community networks, and positive identity.
Homosexual and bisexual men (N = 825) enrolled in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study in Chicago completed a 90-minute self-administered questionnaire that included the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, a Well-Being Index, and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist. Participants indicated their experiences with gay stigma, their visibility as gay men, their involvement in the gay community, and their commitment to a positive gay identity. Data from this predominantly white, young, educated, and middle-class cohort are consistent with a structural model in which cultural stigma is negatively associated with positive self-perceptions. This within-group result contrasts sharply with between-group results that indicate our gay cohort was neither particularly low in global self-esteem nor high in psychological distress when compared to nonstigmatized samples.
Frable
D E
DE
Harvard University, USA.
Wortman
C
C
Joseph
J
J
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D002641:Chicago; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010379:Peer Group; D011287:Prejudice; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology