Lectures 15, 16 - LGB: sexual orientation beliefs and social determinants of mental health Flashcards

1
Q

What is sexual orientation essentialism?

A

A belief that one’s sexual orientation is:

  • innate
  • immutable (unchangeable)
  • fixed across lifespan
  • universal across culture and time
  • exists in discrete categories (gay, straight (no spectrum))
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2
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Twin studies e.g. Bailey & Pillard (1991) behaviour genetics sexual orientation.

A

52% concordance in sexual orientation between MZ
twins (male)

22% concordance in sexual orientation between DZ
twins (male)

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3
Q

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Gay gene, Hamer (1993; 1995)

A

X linked marker (Xq28 region) of male homosexuality. Replicated by Bailey et al., (2014)

more common in homosexual males

looks like there is something to it

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4
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Fraternal birth order effect:
Blanchard, 1996

A

Latter born sons more likely to be gay (to same mother)
(only for biological sons, not adopted, younger bros or any sisters matter)

uteran response effect child?

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5
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Neuroanamtomical:
LeVay (1991)

A

neuroanatomical differences between gay vs. straight men in INAH3 (mating behaviour and sexually dimorphic, looked more female in gays)

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6
Q

Are essentialist theories of sexual orientation useful for stigma reduction? Discuss.

A

LGB people will be viewed as less blame-worthy when their stigmatised status is perceived to be beyond their control (i.e., due to a “gay gene”) than when perceived to be controllable (i.e., due to learning, environmental factors, choice)

However it is likely to produce more stigma against bisexuals, as they do not form a discrete category?

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7
Q

What is the attribution theory, in the context of stigma?

Weiner, Perry, & Magnusson, 1988

A

“the perceived cause of the stigma determines affective reactions to the stigmatized person”

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8
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Gullup

A

more ppl since 2011 Americans think more now born than choice (was it lady gagas albumn?)

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9
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Haslam & Levy, 2006; Jayaratne et al., 2006; Haider-Markel, 2008

A

Those who perceive homosexuality as genetic/immutable/uncontrollable

  • more supportive of constitution amendment to legalise same- sex marriage
  • morally acceptable lifestyle
  • support equal legal rights for cohabiting same-sex couples
  • equal employment rights
  • less homonegativity
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10
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Safe schools?

A

Corellational evidence, what about experimental data?

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11
Q

Do essentialist accounts of sexual orientation really cause pro-LGB+ attitudes?

Explain why / why not.

(Piskur & Degelman, 1992)
(Pratarelli & Donaldson, 1997)
(Oldham & Kasser, 1992)
(Hegarty, 2002)
(Boysen & Vogel, 2007)
A

Experimental findings have been inconsistent
– Improved attitudes (Piskur & Degelman, 1992)
– Null effect (Pratarelli & Donaldson, 1997)
– More negative attitudes (Oldham & Kasser, 1992)

Why?

  • “Born this way” beliefs have become symbolic markers of one’s pro-LGB+ politics, not causes (Hegarty, 2002)
  • Biased assimilation and attitude polarisation (Boysen & Vogel, 2007)

chose argument that suits ur agenda

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12
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Does learning biological explanations of homosexuality reduce prejudice?

(Boysen & Vogel, 2007)

A
  • Biased assimilation is the tendency to evaluate belief-consistent information more positively than belief-inconsistent information.
  • Attitude Polarisation is strengthening of one’s initial belief or attitude in response to ambiguous or contradictory evidence.
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13
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Haslam & Levy, 2006

A

Factor 1: immuntability => more +
Factor 2: Discreteness => more negative attitudes toward LGB+ (increases isolation, in/out group)

These were the strongest predictors of LGB attitude

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14
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3rd problem
Hubbard & de Vissor, 2015

A

Privilages certain groups over others i.e. gay and lesbian over bisexuals.

when bisexuals seen as discrete - seen as much more negative

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15
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What is essentialist theories are not congruent with some peoples lives?
Diamond 2005;2008

A

Female Sexual Fluidity

‘unqueer’ refuse of labels

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16
Q

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discreteness beliefs linked to greater internalised homophobia in gay men

Morandini, J. S., Blaszczynski, A., Ross, M. W., Costa, D. S., & Dar-Nimrod, I. (2015). Essentialist beliefs, sexual identity uncertainty, internalized homonegativity and psychological wellbeing in gay men. Journal of counseling psychology, 62(3), 413.

A

rare and abo soething phonoenemodsfamsd

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17
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Morandini, J. S., Blaszczynski, A., Costa, D. S., Godwin, A., & Dar-Nimrod, I. (2017). Born This Way: Sexual Orientation Beliefs a and Their Correlates in Lesbian and Bisexual Women. Journal of counseling psychology.

A

Lesbian (n=393) and Bisexual women (n=205)
– immutability beliefs predict less internalized homophobia
– discreteness linked to > internalised homophobia

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18
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Conclusions for LGB+

A
  • The ethical desirability of a behaviour is not determined by its causes, but by its consequences
  • Non-heterosexual attractions, identities, and behaviours in-and-of-themselves don’t cause harm
  • Essentialist theories don’t always improve attitudes to LGB+ individuals
  • The study of the causes of sexual orientation shouldn’t be assumed to have any social or ethical implications for the treatment of LGB+ people….it’s interesting in-and-of- itself
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19
Q

How did Freud explain the cause of lesbianism?

A

Female oedipus complex, penis envy; overall developmental arrest in psychosexual development

20
Q

How did Bieber and Socarides explain male homosexuality?

How did this influence the practice of psychology?

A
  • belief that an overbearing mother and absent father led to homosexuality in some men
  • belief this could be corrected
  • led to development of aversion therapy (pairing homosexual stimulants with electric shocks)
  • and inclusion of homosexuality in DSM
21
Q

Which volume and in which year was homosexuality removed from the DSM?

A

DSM-II in 1973

22
Q

List some mental health disorders experienced by lesbian, gay and bisexuals?

How much more prevalent are each of these disorders among LGB vs. heterosexual counterparts?

King et al. (2008).

A

■ depression and anxiety (3 times)
■ suicidal ideation (4 times )
■ suicide attempts (8 times)
■ substance misuse (4 times)

23
Q

What are some other mental health issues within the lesbian and bisexual population of women?

the Australian longitudinal study of women’s health

  • (Hiller et al., 2003)
  • (McNair et al., 2005)
A

■ higher rates of smoking, alcohol abuse and illicit drug use amongst lesbian and bisexual women
(Hiller et al., 2003)

■ younger lesbian and bisexual women higher depression, anxiety & self-harm/suicidality
(McNair et al., 2005)

24
Q

What is the minority stress hypothesis?

Judd Marmor (1980)

A

It is not because an individual is LGB that they are “neurotically disturbed” but rather they suffer from an impaired self-image and some degree of unhappiness because of their stigmatised status.

Note: response from community are SOCIALLY DETERMINED

25
Q

How many Australian’s do not believe that homosexuality is okay?

A

1/5

26
Q

According to the minority stress hypothesis, what are the different stressors affecting LGB peoples?

A
  1. general life stressors
  2. distal minority stress processes
  3. proximal minority stress processes
27
Q

What is a protective/ameliorative factor against distal and proximal minority stress?

Give an example and explain how it can help.

A

Social support and coping

In particular, connectedness with LGBQ community (group-level coping)
■ allows experience of social environments where not stigmatised
■ support against stigma and discrimination
■ disconfirmation of negative stereotypes about other LGB’s
■ allows social comparisons with like others

28
Q

What are distal stressors?

A

Distal stressors: prejudiced events

  • exists on a continuum - violence/”hate crimes” through to anti-gay slurs and acts of social exclusion

■ formal (i.e., legal/institutional discrimination) sodomy laws, marriage act, employment discrimination, etc.)

■ informal: exclusion by family/peer group/religious community, anti-gay verbal and physical victimisation, etc.

29
Q

What are proximal stressors?

Name three proximal stressors identified by Meyer (2003).

A

“internal stress processes that have their grounding in the realities of stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination” (Meyer, 2003)

  1. perceived stigma
  2. concealment of identity
  3. internalised homophobia
30
Q

What is internalised homophobia?

List some examples of how this may effect someone?
Williamson, 2000

A

The internalisation of negative societal attitudes about homosexuality/bisexuality (biphobia)

A person who has internalised homophobia or biphobia may experience:
■ discomfort disclosing sexual orientation
■ disconnectedness from other LGB’s
■ discomfort with same-sex sexual behaviour
■ attempts to change one’s sexuality (in extreme cases)
■ inner conflict, lowered self-esteem, self-depreciating attitudes (Williamson, 2000)

31
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Add in correlates
with internalised homophobia

A
  • age
  • religiosity
  • lower income
  • rural locality (in men) (Morandnini et al 2015) (in Aus. but not for women, maybe rural culture just emphasises male gender roles more so than females)
  • anti- effeminacy attitudes in gay men (Sanchez and Villian 2012) (maybe coz challenges their own masculinity ideals?)
32
Q

Explain what leads to stress related psychopathology?

A

Prejudiced events > trauma, hyper vigilance to threat

> perceptions of vulnerability > social marginalisation

33
Q

What are some prejudiced events experienced by LGB people and the % of those who have experienced it?

(GLSEN, 1999; Kosciw, Diaz & Greytak, 2009)

A
verbal harassment (61%)
sexual harassment (47%)
physical harassment (28%)
physical assault (14%)
34
Q

What is the internalised homophobia short form (IHS)

Ross and Rosser (1995)

A

psychological test that determined your level of internalised homophobia

35
Q

What are the challenges to the minority stress hypothesis?

Hatzenbuehler, 2009
(Savin-Williams et al., 2011)

A

○ support is mostly correlational/cross-sectional (cannot find causality)

○ non-representative sampling

○ failure to delineate the mechanisms via which minority stress > mental health difficulties (Hatzenbuehler, 2009)

○ are mental health discrepancies among male sexual orientation groups illusory due to inappropriate group comparisons? (Savin-Williams et al., 2011) - may be more suitable to compare to straight women?
More suitable for situations in which nonheterosexual men are assessed on sexually dimorphic variables – such as depression?

36
Q

What is the gender inversion hypothesis?

What evidence supports this?

(Lippa, 2003; 2005; 2008)
(Rieger, 2008) 
(Zucker, 2008)
(Vassey, 2016)
(LeVay, 1991)
A

That homosexual men are just like straight women in the wrong bodies and vice versa for lesbians.

On average, gay men demonstrate a range of sex atypical biological and behavioural traits

Behavioural:
■ self-rated masculinity-femininity, occupational interests
■ childhood gender nonconformity
● retrospective and prospective studies
● androphilic natal males adopt feminine gender roles across cultures

Physiological:
■ neuroanatomical differences between gay vs straight men in INAH3
■ finger lengths, gay men had feminised ratios

37
Q

Explain what perceived stigma is and how it may effect LGB’s.

(Ross, 1985)

A

Expectations of negative reactions to one’s stigmatised status (stigma consciousness).

■ leads to hyper-vigilance to threat and signs of rejection
■ linked to social anxiety and depression in LGB’s
■ more strongly predictive of psychological distress than objective instances of victimisation (Ross, 1985)

38
Q

Explain what concealment of identity entails?

A

Constant self-monitoring to hide one’s status
Engenders fear of discovery

HOWEVER, outness not consistently linked to improved wellbeing - contingent on tolerance of one’s social environment

39
Q

What evidence is there for an association between internalised homophobia and mental health?

(Newcomb & Mustanski, 2010)

A

Meta-analysis of 31 studies
■ investigated association between IH and psychological distress, depression & anxiety

Found:
■ modest positive association between IH and psychological distress and depression across studies
■ no gender differences in impact
■ overall support for minority stress hypothesis

Limitations:
● studies included are cross-sectional/correlational
● most undertaken in non-random samples

40
Q

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add in Internalised Homophobia and HIV risk in MSM

(Ross et al., 2013)

A

ok, later.

41
Q

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“Traits due to victimisation” or “persecution-produced traits” (Allport, 1958)

A

yeh

42
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 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (Total N=34653; N=577 LGBs), a longitudinal, nationally representative study
 Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on the ballot 2004 - 2005 elections

(Hatzenbuehler et al., 2010)

A

no increases for heterosexuals living in states with constitutional amendments.

43
Q

Do experiences of discrimination account for LGB mental health disparities?

(Burton, Marshal, Chrisholm, Sucato & Friedman, 2013)

A

FOUND significant correlates:
○ age - with increased age, decreased levels of proximal stressor,
○ therefore, could be developmental

44
Q

What did an empirical challenge to notion that homosexuality a form of psychopathology find?

(Hooker, 1957)

A

Compared matched sample of 30 homosexual vs. 30 heterosexual males using a battery tests of psychological adjustment and psychopathology

FOUND: No difference between homosexual vs. heterosexual men

Led to a sharpened critique of psychodynamic models

45
Q

How did the DSM I (1952) explain homosexuality?

A

It was explained as a sociopathic personality disturbance

46
Q

How did the DSM II (1968) explain homosexuality?

A

It was explained as a sexual deviation

47
Q

Is ‘outness’ linked to improved wellbeing?

A

No, it is contingent on tolerance of one’s social environment