Enacted Sexual Stigma, Stigma Consciousness, and Subjective Happiness Scale Adaptation: A Two-Country Study.

HIV and sexuality stigma impede HIV prevention and care efforts. HealthMpowerment.org (HMP) is an interactive mobile phone- and web-based HIV prevention and care intervention for young Black men who have sex with men (YBMSM; ages 18-30) in the United States. HMP included three forums where participants could share their experiences. In this study, we explored whether engaging in stigma-related discussions was associated with changes in YBMSM's stigma-related scores throughout the trial. YBMSM (ages 18-30; N = 238) participating in HMP completed surveys at baseline, and 3 and 6month follow-ups that included a series of scales focused on HIV and sexuality (internalized homophobia; sexual prejudice) stigma. Sixty-two participants contributed to the forums (1497 posts). We coded instances where YBMSM's conversations were stigma related (915 posts, 61.1%), including discussions of anticipated (74/915, 8.1%), experienced (125/915, 13.7%), internalized (410/915, 44.8%), and/or challenged (639/915, 69.8%) stigma regarding sexuality and HIV. Using a mixed methods approach, we examined whether changes in YBMSM's stigma scores were associated with stigma-related discussions within the forum. We controlled for age, HIV status, income, and educational attainment in these multivariable models. YBMSM who discussed experiencing HIV stigma in the forums reported decreases in perceived HIV stigma over time (b = - 0.37, p ≤ 0.05). YBMSM whose forum posts indicated anticipated HIV stigma reported increases in HIV stigma over time (b = 0.46, p ≤ 0.01). Participants who challenged sexuality-related stigma in forums had lower internalized homophobia (b = - 0.68, p ≤ 0.01) at baseline. YBMSM whose discussions focused on experiencing sexuality-related stigma reported increases in internalized homophobia (b = 0.39, p ≤ 0.01) and sexual prejudice (b = 0.87, p ≤ 0.05) over time. Developing strategies to combat stigma remains a key priority. HMP created an online space where YBMSM could discuss HIV and sexuality stigma. Although a limited number of HMP participants authored the majority of these forum discussions, the discussions were associated with changes in the sample's stigma scores over time. Online interventions (e.g., social media, apps) should consider the inclusion of forums to address stigma and test the efficacy of forums to improve YBMSM's HIV prevention and care continuum outcomes.

George Weinberg’s introduction of the term homophobia in the late 1960s challenged traditional thinking about homosexuality and helped focus society’s attention on the problem of antigay prejudice and stigma. This paper briefly describes the history and impact of homophobia. The term’s limitations are discussed, including its underlying assumption that antigay prejudice is based mainly on fear and its inability to account for historical changes in how society regards homosexuality and heterosexuality as the bases for social identities. Although the importance of Weinberg’s contribution should not be underestimated, a new vocabulary is needed to advance scholarship in this area. Toward this end, three constructs are defined and discussed: sexual stigma (the shared knowledge of society’s negative regard for any nonheterosexual behavior, identity, relationship, or community), heterosexism (the cultural ideology that perpetuates sexual stigma), and sexual prejudice (individuals’ negative attitudes based on sexual orientation). The concept of internalized homophobia is briefly considered.

BackgroundValid measures of sexual violence stigma that can be readily incorporated into program monitoring and evaluation systems are needed to strengthen gender-based violence (GBV) services in humanitarian emergencies. This study sought to assess the psychometric properties, construct validity, and measurement invariance of sexual violence stigma scales among female Somali GBV survivors in Kenya and Syrian GBV survivors in Jordan to identify an abbreviated scale that could be used across humanitarian contexts.MethodsWe administered measures of sexual violence stigma to 209 female survivors of sexual violence aged 15 and older in Kenya and Jordan. Exploratory factor analysis was used to assess the underlying latent structure, and Item Response Theory was used to estimate item difficulty and discrimination parameters to guide efforts to shorten the scales. Differential item functioning (DIF) by site was assessed using Multiple Indicators, Multiple Causes models. Construct validity of the sexual violence stigma scales was assessed by estimating correlations with functional impairment, depression, and disability.ResultsThe sexual violence stigma measure exhibited distinct factor structures among Somali and Syrian GBV survivors. Among Somali survivors, a two-factor model with separate felt (10 items) and enacted (4 items) stigma constructs was identified, with scales for both domains exhibiting good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.93 and 0.88, respectively). In Jordan, a single factor solution was uncovered for a 15-item stigma scale with good internal consistency (alpha = 0.86). The shortened core sexual stigma scale consisting of the 4 items that did not exhibit DIF had a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.82 in Kenya and 0.81 in Jordan. The felt stigma scale in Kenya, the full stigma scale in Jordan, and abbreviated core stigma scales in both countries were meaningfully correlated with depression, while correlations with functional impairment were weaker and inconsistent across scales.ConclusionsAn abbreviated core set of invariant perceived and internalized sexual violence stigma items demonstrated evidence of construct validity in two diverse settings. The ability of this measure to be efficiently administered as a part of routine program monitoring and evaluation activities, with the potential addition of items from a measurement bank to improve contextual relevance, can facilitate improvements in the delivery and quality of gender-based violence programs in humanitarian emergencies.

Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a complex and multi-determined process that is influenced by psychosocial variables. Although international studies have pointed to the adverse impact of HIV stigma, sexual stigma, and depression on ART adherence among men who have sex with men (MSM) with HIV, less is known about this association among Brazilians. We aimed to (a) evaluate indicators of depression, stigma related to HIV and homosexuality, and adherence to ART in a sample of Brazilian MSM living with HIV; (b) assess possible correlations between the variables analyzed, and (c) assess the impact of HIV and sexual stigma and depression on ART adherence. This cross-sectional study comprised 138 Brazilian MSM living with HIV as participants. Scales used included: a sociodemographic/clinical questionnaire, the questionnaire for assessment of adherence to antiretroviral therapy (CEAT-HIV), the Beck depression inventory (BDI-II), the internalized homophobia scale, and the HIV stigmatization scale. The mean adherence score was relatively high (78.83, within a range of 17-89 points). However, we observed inadequate ART adherence (CEAT-HIV < 75) in 28 (20.2%) respondents. Participants reported high scores for internalized sexual stigma, perceived sexual stigma in the community, and HIV stigma. Symptoms of depression were identified in 48.47% of participants. We found negative correlations between depression, HIV stigma, and treatment adherence, but not between sexual stigma and ART adherence. HIV-related stigma and sexual stigma were positively correlated with depression. Our regression analysis indicated that each year of age at diagnosis of HIV increased adherence by 0.22 points, on average. Each additional BDI-II score reduced adherence to ART by 0.20 points. The high prevalence of depression, HIV stigma, and sexual stigma, and their adverse effects on ART adherence and mental health, point to the need to implement evidence-based interventions to reduce sexual and serological stigma in the general population, as well as to mitigate the negative impacts of stigma on MSM living in HIV in Brazil. They also highlight the importance of periodically screening for these variables among MSM treated in Brazilian public health services, especially among those with inadequate adherence to ART.

The aim of the current study is to investigate the interaction between gender and physical activity with the three variables (subjective happiness, self-esteem and body image). More specifically, we will test if there is a difference between the variables (subjective happiness, self-esteem and body image) and if any gender differences are present. Method: A hundred and eleven (111) adolescent students (58 girls, 53 boys) who ranged in age from 13 to 17 years participated in the study. Because the participants were adolescents, their parents first completed the inform consent for their child’s participation. Then the students completed demographic factors in order to allocate them in exercisers or no-exercisers and sexual orientation and the three questionnaires. A 2 (exercisers, non-exercisers) × 2 (male, female) × 3 (Self Esteem Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale, Social Physique Anxiety Scale) multivariate ANOVA was conducted. Results: The statistical analysis revealed a significant correlation between the three variables (Self Esteem Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale and Social Physique Anxiety Scale). Furthermore, it revealed a significant main effect of exercisers on Self Esteem Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale and Social Physique Anxiety Scale but not significant effect of gender on the three variables, as well as a non-significant interaction of group and gender on the three variables. Conclusion: These findings are both in consistency with previous literature that exercise has mental prosperities in adolescents, but also in non-consistency as gender is concerned. As a result, future studies could be conducted in order to investigate further the impact of physical activity and gender in self-esteem, subjective happiness and social physique anxiety.

How Many Gays Are There? It Depends -- What is Sexual Orientation and Do Women Have One? -- Sexual Stigma and Sexual Prejudice in the United States: A Conceptual Framework -- An Overview of Same-Sex Couples in Relation Ships: A Research Area Still at Sea -- Lesbian and Gay Parents and their Children: A Social Science Perspective -- Love, Marriage, and Baby Carriage Among Sexual Minorities- and Bias: Discussion of the 54th Nebraska Symposium on Motivation.

Objectives The present study investigated subjective happiness in Japanese adults and offers basic knowledge for future studies. In addition, how subjective happiness varies in relation to certain demographic variables, such as gender and age, as well as factors that influence this variability, are examined.Methods A total of 2,000 Japanese people (1,000 females and 1,000 males) over the age of 20 completed an anonymous self-report internet survey. There were approximately the same number of participants in each of six age groups ranging from the 20s to 70s. How Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) scores were related to various demographic variables, including gender and age, as well as happiness, life satisfaction, and stress response, were analyzed.Results The validity of the SHS was supported by positive correlations with happiness and life satisfaction scores and negative correlation with stress response scores. The results also showed that females had higher SHS scores than males, and this gender difference was distinctive, especially among young adults. In addition, there was a U-shaped change in SHS score by age. That is, subjective happiness dropped with age, but started increasing again after the 50s. The same findings were reconfirmed by an additional survey one year later. Moreover, those with a spouse showed higher SHS scores than unmarried participants. Lastly, SHS scores were low among those whose highest education was junior high school and those who lived alone, although the limitations of sampling bias should be considered.Conclusion The SHS is an internationally accepted measure of subjective happiness consisting of only four items and can easily be used in public health research and practice. The current study offers basic information regarding SHS scores as well as subjective happiness in Japanese adults of different age groups and genders. The findings of the present study clearly indicate higher levels of subjective happiness among older age groups than younger ones, those with a spouse than those without a spouse, and females than males. As many studies conducted in other cultures have shown no such gender difference, further cross-cultural comparison studies are needed to clarify this discrepancy. The SHS as an indicator of personal well-being can be strongly expected to show extended utility in the future.

The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of Expressive Arts Therapy (EAT) in enhancing subjective happiness and reducing feelings of loneliness among institutionalized elderly women. The sample comprised of 5 women aged between 60-71 years. They were assessed on the Subjective Happiness Scale and UCLALoneliness scale. Pre and post-test analysis of Expressive Arts Therapy was done. The results showed improvement in the scores of subjective happiness and loneliness scales. It is concluded that EAT may produce positive effects on subjective happiness and loneliness feelings of institutionalized elderly women, however, a larger sample may draw a better conclusion.

Hate crimes (or bias crimes) are crimes motivated by an offenders’ personal bias against a particular social group. Modern hate crimes legislation developed out of civil rights protections based on race, religion, and national origin; however, the acts that constitute a hate crime have expanded over time, as have the groups protected by hate crimes legislation. Anti-LGBT hate crimes, in which victims are targeted based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. LGBT people are highly overrepresented as victims of hate crimes given the number of LGBT people in the population, and this is especially true of hate crimes against transgender women. Despite the frequency of these crimes, the legal framework for addressing them varies widely across the United States. Many states do not have specific legislation that addresses anti-LGBT hate crimes, while others have legislation that mandates data collection on those crimes but does not enhance civil or criminal penalties for them, and some offer enhanced civil and/or criminal penalties. Even in states that do have legislation to address these types of hate crimes, some states only address hate crimes based on sexual orientation but not those based on gender identity. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act gives the federal government the authority to prosecute those crimes regardless of jurisdiction; however, this power has been used in a limited capacity. Hate crimes are distinct from other crimes that are not motivated by bias. For example, thrill seeking, retaliation, or the desire to harm or punish members of a particular social group often motivates perpetrators of hate crimes; these motivations often result in hate crimes being more violent than other similar crimes. The difference in the motivation of offenders also has significant consequences for victims, both physically and mentally. Victims of hate crimes are more likely to require medical attention than victims of non-bias crimes. Likewise, victims of hate crimes, and especially anti-LGBT hate crimes, often experience negative psychological outcomes, such as PTSD, depression, or anxiety as a result of being victimized for being a member of an already marginalized social group.

Understanding the complex manifestations of sexual stigma is crucial in helping to prevent discrimination toward sexual minorities. In this research, we examined the role of heterosexism within political ideology systems and the process through which these systems promote discrimination by focusing on sexual prejudice. Across four studies, we tested the predictions that more conservative political ideologies and greater levels of sexual prejudice will be associated with more negative evaluations of an applicant with a sexual stigma, and that prejudice will mediate the link between ideology and evaluation. We employed an experimental paradigm such that participants were presented nearly identical information in an intern applicant evaluation context, however, cues to sexual stigma were either present or absent. Overall, conservative ideology negatively predicted evaluation in the stigma, but not the control, condition and greater levels of sexual prejudice more strongly negatively predicted evaluations in the stigma, relative to control, condition. Finally, whereas ideology indirectly predicted candidate evaluation through prejudice generally, the effect was stronger for the applicant with the sexual stigma. This research extends the scholarship linking ideology to sexual stigma by examining employment discrimination and testing the mediating role of prejudice linking ideology to discrimination. By examining the role of ideology, it also broadens the research on bias in employment contexts. Understanding the role of both political ideology as well as individual sexual prejudice in discrimination may facilitate efforts to dismantle discrimination.

The present study is aimed at determining subjective vitality and subjective happiness levels of sport high school students and to examine the levels based on certain variables. Relational screening model was used in this study. The sample of the research consisted of a total of 185 students, 113 (61.1%) male and 72 (38.9%) female, who continued their education at “Trabzon Sports High School” in 2019-2020. “Personal Information Form” designed by the researcher, “Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS)” and “Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS)” were used as data collection tools in the research. It was accepted that the research data showed a normal distribution according to the skewness and kurtosis values. Accordingly, descriptive statistics were used as a statistical method in the analysis of the data, and T-Test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation and regression analyzes were used for independent groups.In line with the research analysis, it was found that the students of sports high schools had above-average levels of vitality and happiness. It has been observed that the subjective vitality and happiness levels are higher among male students and students affiliated with a sports club (licensed/unlicensed). In addition, it was concluded that the subjective happiness and vitality levels are higher among students who do team sports and those who have longer years of practising sports, and no significant difference was determined according to the variable of socio-economic status of the family. As a result, it was found that there was a high (.81) significant positive correlation between subjective happiness and vitality. Another important result is that subjective vitality (66%) has an important role in predicting subjective happiness.

Grit, Subjective Happiness, Satisfaction With Life, and Academic Resilience Among Pharmacy and Physical Therapy Students at Two Universities

This article describes a social psychological framework for understanding sexual stigma, and it reports data on sexual minority individuals' stigma-related experiences. The framework distinguishes between stigma's manifestations in society's institutions (heterosexism) and among individuals. The latter include enacted sexual stigma (overt negative actions against sexual minorities, such as hate crimes), felt sexual stigma (expectations about the circumstances in which sexual stigma will be enacted), and internalized sexual stigma (personal acceptance of sexual stigma as part of one's value system and self-concept). Drawing from previous research on internalized sexual stigma among heterosexuals (i.e., sexual prejudice), the article considers possible parallels in how sexual minorities experience internalized sexual stigma (i.e., self-stigma, or negative attitudes toward the self). Data are presented from a community sample of lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults (N = 2,259) to illustrate the model's utility for generating and testing hypotheses concerning self-stigma.

This article describes a social psychological framework for understanding sexual stigma, and it reports data on sexual minority individuals' stigma-related experiences. The framework distinguishes between stigma's manifestations in society's institutions (heterosexism) and among individuals. The latter include enacted sexual stigma (overt negative actions against sexual minorities, such as hate crimes), felt sexual stigma (expectations about the circumstances in which sexual stigma will be enacted), and internalized sexual stigma (personal acceptance of sexual stigma as part of one's value system and self-concept). Drawing from previous research on internalized sexual stigma among heterosexuals (i.e., sexual prejudice), the article considers possible parallels in how sexual minorities experience internalized sexual stigma (i.e., self-stigma, or negative attitudes toward the self). Data are presented from a community sample of lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults (N = 2,259) to illustrate the model's utility for generating and testing hypotheses concerning self-stigma.

BackgroundVaccination is one of important ways to prevent contracting COVID-19. Predictors of motivation to vaccinate against COVID-19 among lesbian, gay, and lesbian (LGB) individuals have been seldom studied.Aims & ObjectivesThe aims of the present study were to examine the predictive effects of depression and the experiences of sexual stigma (i.e., perceived sexual stigma from family members, internalized sexual stigma, and sexual microaggression) before the COVID-19 pandemic on motivation to vaccinate against COVID-19 among LGB individuals four years later during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan.MethodThe baseline data of depression and sexual stigma were collected in 2018 and 2019. Depression was assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Perceived sexual stigma from family members was assessed using the Homosexuality-Related Stigma Scale. Internalized sexual stigma was assessed using the Measure of Internalized Sexual Stigma for Lesbians and Gay Men. Sexual microaggression was assessed using the Sexual Orientation Microaggression Inventory. Participants’ motivation to vaccinate against COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic were surveyed using the 9-item Motors of COVID-19 Vaccination. The associations of depression and sexual stigma at baseline with motivation to vaccinate against COVID-19 at follow-up were examined using multivariate linear regression analysis.ResultsInternalized sexual stigma was negatively associated with motivation to vaccinate against COVID-19, whereas sexual microaggression was positively associated with motivation to vaccinate against COVID-19. Depression and perceived sexual stigma from family members were not significantly associated with motivation to vaccinate against COVID-19. Although being male and older age were positively associated with greater motivation to vaccinate against COVID-19, gender and age did not moderate the associations of sexual stigma with motivation to vaccinate.Discussion & ConclusionInternalized sexual stigma and sexual microaggression were significantly associated with motivation to vaccinate against COVID-19 with different directions. Intervention strategies for enhancing motivation to vaccinate against COVID-19 in LGB individuals should be developed with consideration of the experiences of sexual stigma.