The relations among outness, authenticity, and well-being for bisexual adults.

Abstract

Outness, a proximal minority stressor for sexual minority people, consists of 2 subconstructs (disclosure and concealment) and demonstrates relationships with mental health outcomes such as well-being. Newly studied, authenticity may be related to outness and to mental health outcomes, potentially influencing the outness-well-being relationship. Additionally, a majority of research has examined minority stressors for lesbians and gay men, and few studies have investigated the unique experiences of bisexual individuals. The present study examined the associations of 2 subconstructs of outness-disclosure and concealment (as a sexual minority and specifically as bisexual)-with bisexual adults' well-being and whether authenticity mediated the relationship between these subconstructs of outness and well-being. Fourhundred and 47 bisexual participants completed an online survey. Analyses revealed that bisexual disclosure was positively associated with well-being after accounting for the contribution of sexual minority disclosure, whereas bisexual concealment was not associated with well-being when accounting for the contribution of sexual minority concealment. Authenticity mediated the relationship between bisexual disclosure and well-being, and it mediated the relationship between bisexual concealment and well-being. Results further our understanding of bisexual individuals' mental health, particularly in regards to bisexual disclosure and concealment. Public Significance StatementThis study explored the relations among outness, authenticity, and well-being for bisexual adults. Results showed that greater disclosure of one's bisexual identity and less concealment of bisexual identity were associated with greater authenticity, and greater authenticity was associated with greater well-being.

Effects of sexual orientation concealment on well-being among sexual minorities: How and when does concealment hurt?

“…Nonetheless, we found that, while controlling for the baseline levels of LGB-specific authenticity, sexual orientation concealment at baseline was not significantly associated with LGB-specific authenticity at 1-year follow-up, and thus its mediating effect was not supported. This finding contrasts with Brownfield and Brown (2020), who showed that LGB-specific authenticity mediated the association between concealment and well-being among bisexual individuals. The inconsistency could be attributed to the difference in study designs, as cross-sectional data may overestimate the relationships between variables (Mitchell & Maxwell, 2013).…”

“…This study makes three contributions to the literature. First, it extends the pertinent literature that relied on data collected cross-sectionally (e.g., Brownfield & Brown, 2020; Mereish et al, 2017; Mereish & Poteat, 2015; Petrocchi et al, 2020; Riggle et al, 2017) or over a short time period (e.g., Crabtree & Pillow, 2020; Fletcher & Everly, 2021; Giano et al, 2019; Kiekens & Mereish, 2021). The two-wave data collected over a 1-year period strengthen our ability to make inferences about the directionality of the relationships among the variables and explore the longer term effects of sexual orientation concealment.…”

“…A meta-analysis of 75 studies reveals a strong positive correlation between authenticity and well-being (Sutton, 2020). Studies with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals also support that authenticity mediates the link between concealment and psychological well-being (Brownfield & Brown, 2020;Riggle et al, 2017).…”

Estrés de las minorías sexuales y su impacto en la salud mental de las personas LGB+

“…Estas consecuencias en el afecto llegaron a perdurar hasta el día siguiente en algunos participantes. En otro trabajo, con personas bisexuales de Estados Unidos (Brownfield & Brown, 2022), se encontró que la revelación de la orientación sexual estaba asociada con mayor bienestar. En cambio, no se observó relación entre la ocultación y el bienestar.…”

“…Estas diferencias podrían explicar que las personas plurisexuales muestren peores resultados en el bienestar psicológico, ya que es una variable que ha mostrado tener relación con una menor ocultación y mayor revelación de la orientación sexual (Bejakovich & Flett, 2018;Brownfield & Brown, 2022;de Miguel et al, 2018;Durso & Meyer, 2013;Riggle et al, 2017), así como con una mayor conexión comunitaria (Rostosky et al, 2018;Watson et al, 2018) y con una menor incertidumbre con la orientación sexual (Bejakovich & Flett, 2018).…”