Homophily, Close Friendship, and Life Satisfaction among Gay, Lesbian, Heterosexual, and Bisexual Men and Women

Brian Joseph Gillespie,Lexi Harari,David Frederick,Christian Grov,Peter A Newman

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128900

Abstract

Friends play important roles throughout our lives by providing expressive, instrumental, and companionate support. We examined sexual orientation, gender, and age differences in the number of friends people can rely on for expressive, instrumental, and companionate support. Additionally, we examined the extent to which people relied on same-gender versus cross-gender friends for these types of support. Participants (N = 25,185) completed a survey via a popular news website. Sexual orientation differences in number of same-gender and cross-gender friends were generally small or non-existent, and satisfaction with friends was equally important to overall life satisfaction for all groups. However, the extent to which people’s friendship patterns demonstrated gender-based homophily varied by sexual orientation, gender, and age. Young adult gay and bisexual men, and to some extent bisexual women and older bisexual men, did not conform to gendered expectations that people affiliate primarily with their own gender.

Highlights

Friends play a critical role in enhancing life satisfaction and psychological well-being [1]
Given the importance of social support for individuals at risk for experiencing “minority stress” and rejection from peers and parents [2], we examined whether friends were a more important source of overall life satisfaction for GLB individuals
Close Friendship, and Sexual Orientation friendships. We explore whether these friendships are more important for GLB individuals than their heterosexual counterparts

Summary

Introduction

Friends play a critical role in enhancing life satisfaction and psychological well-being [1]. Lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) individuals reported more friends than heterosexuals and whether they were less likely than heterosexuals to engage in friendships defined by gender homophily (i.e., the tendency to associate with individuals of the same gender). Given the importance of social support for individuals at risk for experiencing “minority stress” (the negative symptoms, such as depression and suicidal thoughts, that GLB individuals are likely to experience as a result of their stigmatized identity) and rejection from peers and parents [2], we examined whether friends were a more important source of overall life satisfaction for GLB individuals. We examine the extent to which GLB individuals conform to traditional gendered expectations for close.

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Discussion

Conclusion