Global identification predicts gay–male identity integration and well‐being among Turkish gay men

Abstract

In most parts of the world, hegemonic masculinity requires men to endorse traditional masculine ideals, one of which is rejection of homosexuality. Wherever hegemonic masculinity favours heterosexuality over homosexuality, gay males may feel under pressure to negotiate their conflicting male gender and gay sexual identities to maintain positive self‐perceptions. However, globalization, as a source of intercultural interaction, might provide a beneficial context for people wishing to create alternative masculinities in the face of hegemonic masculinity. Hence, we tested if global identification would predict higher levels of gay–male identity integration, and indirectly subjective well‐being, via alternative masculinity representations for gay and male identities. A community sample of 219 gay and bisexual men from Turkey completed the study. Structural equation modelling revealed that global identification positively predicted gay–male identity integration, and indirectly subjective well‐being; however, alternative masculinity representations did not mediate this relationship. Our findings illustrate how identity categories in different domains can intersect and affect each other in complex ways. Moreover, we discuss mental health and well‐being implications for gay men living in cultures where they experience high levels of prejudice and stigma.

Global identification helps increase identity integration among Turkish gay men

“…Previous research has shown that it is difficult to prime global identification directly among Turkish gay men (Koc & Vignoles, 2016). Here, rather than directly priming the identification, we aimed to foster (vs. undermine) identification by priming awareness of positive (vs. negative) aspects of globalisation.…”

“…For Turkish identification, we did not make any specific predictions. For religious identification, based on previous evidence that religiosity is associated with the incompatibility of gay and male identities among Turkish gay men (Koc & Vignoles, 2016), we hypothesized that religious identification here would predict lower levels of gay-male identity integration (H6) and access to gayaffirmative social contexts (H7).…”

“…We used four indicators to measure gay-male identity integration, each of which is described below: gay-male compatibility circles (Koc & Vignoles, 2016), two subscales of gay-male identity integration scale (Koc & Vignoles, 2016) and the narrowness of gender identity scale (FalomirPichastor & Hegarty, 2014).…”

“…More recently, Koc and Vignoles (2016) found correlational evidence that global identification was positively associated with gay-male identity integration and thus indirectly with well-being. The current study aims to substantiate these findings with the first experimental evidence for a causal link from global identification to gay-male identity integration.…”

“…In such situations of identity threat, people are likely to use coping strategies seeking to maintain or restore coherent and satisfactory identities (Breakwell, 1986(Breakwell, , 2014. This could be achieved by rejecting the particular threatening identity (Breakwell, 1986(Breakwell, , 2014, changing patterns of group identification (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) or adopting another social identity (Koc & Vignoles, 2016). In this study, we investigate experimentally whether adopting a 'global citizen' identity can help integrate gay and male identities among gay men living in Turkey, where traditional masculine norms are prevalent.…”