Happiness and Sexual Minority Status

Abstract

We used logistic regression on nationally representative data (General Social Survey, N = 10,668 and N = 6,680) to examine how sexual minority status related to happiness. We considered two central dimensions of sexual minority status—sexual behavior and sexual identity. We distinguished between same-sex, both-sex, and different-sex oriented participants. Because individuals transition between sexual behavior categories over the life course (e.g., from both-sex partners to only same-sex partners) and changes in sexual minority status have theoretical associations with well-being, we also tested the effects of transitions on happiness. Results showed that identifying as bisexual, gay, or lesbian, having both male and female partners since age 18, or transitioning to only different-sex partners was negatively related to happiness. Those with only same-sex partners since age 18 or in the past five years had similar levels of happiness as those with only different-sex partners since age 18. Additional tests showed that the majority of these happiness differences became non-significant when economic and social resources were included, indicating that the lower happiness was a product of structural and societal forces. Our findings clearly and robustly underscored the importance of taking a multi-faceted approach to understanding sexuality and well-being, demonstrating that not all sexual minority groups experience disadvantaged happiness. Our study calls for more attention to positive aspects of well-being such as happiness in examinations of sexual minorities and suggests that positive psychology and other happiness subfields should consider the role of sexual minority status in shaping happiness.

The Gender‐as‐Relational Approach for Theorizing About Romantic Relationships of Sexual and Gender Minority Mid‐ to Later‐Life Adults

“…Experiences of bisexual and pansexual individuals in relationships are especially overlooked, as these populations are typically rendered invisible within a relationship context. Yet there is evidence that bisexual individuals report lower relationship quality and happiness, especially if currently in different‐sex unions (Thomeer & Reczek, ). A GAR perspective highlights relationship histories of bisexual individuals and other sexual minority and even heterosexual individuals, pointing to a need for a life course approach to understand how gender dynamics shift throughout different relationships with people of different genders.…”

Cyber Behaviors Among Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Youth: Subgroup Differences and Associations with Health Indicators

“…32 A better understanding of bisexual orientation disparities in positive mental and physical health indicators can provide insight into the development of strength-based health interventions. [33][34][35] To our knowledge, no prior research has examined longitudinal associations between bisexual attraction during adolescence with cyber and health behaviors in young adulthood.…”

Have Mischievous Responders Misidentified Sexual Minority Youth Disparities in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health?

“…Similar to Add Health, GUTS collected data from approximately 10,000 12-to-17 year olds only four years after Wave 1 of the Add Health study. Initially, this comparison seems stark; however, generally “the number of youth with same-sex attraction far exceed those who engage in same-sex behavior or who identify as gay” (Savin-Williams & Cohen, 2007, p. 31) and studies with youth (Garofalo, Wolf, Kessel, Palfrey, & Durant, 1998; Katz-Wise, 2014; Matthews, Blosnich, Farmer, & Adams, 2014; Rosario, Schrimshaw, Hunter, & Braun, 2006) and adult (Bostwick, Boyd, Hughes, & McCabe, 2010; Chandra, Mosher, Copen, & Sionean, 2011; Copen, Changdra, Febo-Vazquez, 2016; Diamond, 2008; Gates, 2010; Thomeer & Reczek, 2016; Xu, Sternberg, & Markowitz, 2010a; 2010b) samples have consistently shown concurrent and longitudinal within-person discrepancies between sexual attraction, behavior, and identity.…”