Gender Differences in Perceived Stigma Among Sexual Minorities and Their Related Health Practices
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University of Northern Iowa UNI ScholarWorks Dissertations and Theses @ UNI Student Work 2018 Gender differences in perceived stigma among sexual minorities and their related health practices Sara Kay Richardson University of Northern Iowa Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy Copyright ©2018 Sara Kay Richardson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd Part of the Social Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Richardson, Sara Kay, "Gender differences in perceived stigma among sexual minorities and their related health practices" (2018). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 581. https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/581 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses @ UNI by an authorized administrator of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Copyright by SARA KAY RICHARDSON 2018 All Rights Reserved GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PERCIEVED STIGMA AMONG SEXUAL MINORITIES AND THEIR RELATED HEALTH PRACTICES An Abstract of a Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Sara Kay Richardson University of Northern Iowa May, 2018 ABSTRACT Stigma, which is partially determined by social norms within specific cultures, can affect individuals in many ways such as direct negative treatment and discrimination as well as medical, social, and psychological disadvantages and problems. Lesbian women, gay men, bisexuals, and pansexuals have endured a long history of stigmatization in the United States (Herek, 1991). There is further evidence suggesting that bisexuals are especially susceptible to stigmatization, not only from heterosexuals (Herek, 2002), but from lesbian women and gay men as well (Ochs, 1996). I hypothesized that among sexual minorities men would report higher levels of perceived stigma than would women, but especially so among bisexual men and women. I hypothesized the more open and “out” a person is about their sexual orientation identity, the more they will report perceived experiences of stigma. I also sought to further examine the relationship between stigmatization and health outcomes, such as visits to healthcare professionals and risky sexual behavior. There was a negative correlation between experienced stigma and openness for male and female participants. Future research should focus on assessing experiences of stigma in sexual minorities by employing measurements designed to assess the perception of the stigmatized individual’s behavior. GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PERCEIVED STIGMA AMONG SEXUAL MINORITIES AND THEIR RELATED HEALTH PRACTICES A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Sara Kay Richardson University of Northern Iowa May, 2018 ii This Study by: Sara Kay Richardson Entitled: Gender Differences in Perceived Stigma Among Sexual Minorities and Their Related Health Practices has been approved as meeting the thesis requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Nicholas Terpstra-Schwab, Chair, Thesis Committee ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Helen C. Harton, Thesis Committee Member ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Elizabeth Lefler, Thesis Committee Member ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Patrick Pease, Interim Dean, Graduate College iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1 What is Stigma ...............................................................................................................1 Why People Stigmatize ..................................................................................................3 Who is Stigmatized ........................................................................................................7 Effects of Stigmatization..............................................................................................12 Stigma Experienced by LGBT Individuals in the United States .................................15 Sex Differences in Experienced Stigma Among Sexual Minorities ............................18 Stigma Experienced Exclusively by Bisexuals and Pansexuals ..................................19 Stigma and Health Outcomes.......................................................................................24 Current Study ...............................................................................................................26 CHAPTER 2. METHODS ................................................................................................31 Participants ..................................................................................................................31 Measures ......................................................................................................................33 Procedure .....................................................................................................................35 Plan of Analysis ...........................................................................................................36 CHAPTER 3. RESULTS ..................................................................................................40 Research Question 1 ....................................................................................................40 iv Research Question 2 ....................................................................................................43 Research Question 3 ....................................................................................................48 Research Question 4 ....................................................................................................49 CHAPTER 4. DISCUSSION .............................................................................................51 Implications..................................................................................................................51 Limitations ...................................................................................................................56 Future Research ...........................................................................................................60 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................64 APPENDIX A: LIST OF UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE CENTERS AND STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS CONTACTED .....................................................83 APPENDIX B: OUTNESS INVENTORY .....................................................................105 APPENDIX C: EXPERIENCES OF DISCRIMINATION SCALE ..............................107 APPENDIX D: MEDICAL HISTORY QUESTIONNAIRE ..........................................110 APPENDIX E: DEMOGRAPHICS QUESTIONNAIRE ...............................................113 v LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1 Descriptives for Stigma Across Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Categories........................................................................ 41 2 Descriptives for Stigma Across Gender Identity and Previous Partners’ Gender.............................................................................. 42 3 Descriptives Controlling for Outness for Stigma Across Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Categories ................................. 46 4 Descriptives Controlling for Outness for Stigma Across Gender Identity and Previous Partners’ Gender Categories ..................... 47 5 Descriptives for Stigma Across the Number of Sexual Partners in Past Year Categories. .............................................................. 49 6 Descriptives for Stigma Across the Nature of Previous Relationships Categories ........................................................................ 50 vi LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1 Correlation of Perceived Stigma Scores and Outness Inventory Scores .............. 44 2 Correlation of Perceived Stigma Scores and Outness Inventory Scores for Participants who Reported Their Gender as “Other” ...................................... 45 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION UWhat is Stigma Stigma is the possession of an attribute resulting in widespread social disapproval. This discredited attribute results in a “spoiled social identity” (Goffman, 1963). Stigmatization essentially calls the stigmatized individual’s humanity into question, whether in a conscious or unconscious manner. Stigma is dependent on social environments and circumstances because stigmatization often occurs in social interactions. An individual’s social environment and context potentially differs considerably throughout her or his day, and especially throughout her or his lifetime; therefore, certain characteristics and attributes that are stigmatizing in one context may not be stigmatizing in another (Crocker, Major & Steele, 1998). As the environmental context of the stigmatized individual shifts, stigma can be experienced from a variety of social constructs. Stereotypes, which are generalized ideas about an attribute (such as “Women perform poorly