Heterosexist discrimination and relational sacrifice of same-sex couples |
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Authors: | Xiaomin Li Zhenqiang Zhao Melissa A. Curran Roger Mills-Koonce Hongjian Cao |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR;2. Department of Psychology, Fordham University, New York, New York, USA;3. Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA;4. Department of Human Development and Family Studies, School of Education, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA;5. Applied Psychology Program, School of Humanities and Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), Shenzhen, China |
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Abstract: | Drawing on the family stress process model and using data from 141 same-sex couples (N = 282 partners), we examined associations between heterosexist discrimination and relational sacrifices (i.e., willingness and behaviors). We also examined the moderating roles of both partners' internalized homophobia and state-level liberalism on same-sex marriage legalization. Actor-partner interdependence moderation models were conducted. Most of our findings supported hypotheses from the family stress process model. One individual's experiences of greater heterosexist discrimination were related to the partner's higher levels of sacrifice willingness and the individual's own higher frequency of sacrifice behaviors. Such associations emerged (a) among couples living in more liberal states that legalized same-sex marriage earlier, and (b) when the individual's partner reported lower levels of internalized homophobia. Yet the moderating role of an individual's internalized homophobia was the opposite of our hypothesis. When individuals reported high (versus low) internalized homophobia, individuals' experiences of more discriminative events were related to partners' higher levels of sacrifice willingness. Collectively, our study findings highlight that—when investigating how same-sex couples forge and maintain romantic bonds—researchers should consider their experiences in the social cultural context of heteronormativity, which includes the focus on discrimination, stigma, and affirmative laws and policies. |
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Keywords: | heterosexist discrimination internalized homophobia relational sacrifice same-sex couples state-level liberalism |
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