Fragile Heterosexuality: Do Sexual Minorities also Perceive Heterosexuality as Fragile?

Abstract

Previous evidence shows that heterosexual people perceive heterosexual status to be more fragile than homosexual status. However, research has not yet investigated whether sexual minorities have similar, or diverging, perceptions of the fragility of sexual orientation. With a sample that included 89 heterosexual and 80 sexual minority participants, we investigated the fragility of heterosexuality using a between-participants design in which participants indicated their agreement with gender neutral statements about the fragility of either heterosexual or homosexual status. Contrary to our expectations we found evidence of Fragile Heterosexuality perceptions regardless of participants’ sexual orientation. Additionally, we explored the potential moderating effects of social-dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism and prejudice against gay/lesbian people on this Fragile Heterosexuality effect. For sexual minority participants, high levels of social dominance orientation moderated (i.e., increased) the perceived fragility of heterosexual identity relative to homosexual identity. No other inter-group ideology was a significant moderator. These findings highlight that heterosexuality is perceived as more fragile by both heterosexual and sexual minority individuals. Implications and possible avenues for future research are discussed.