Abstract
Research suggests that loneliness among sexual minority adults is associated with marginalization, but it is unclear which processes may underlie this relationship. This cross-sectional study examined five possibilities: stigma preoccupation, internalized homonegativity, sexual orientation concealment, social anxiety, and social inhibition. The study also examined the possible protective role of LGBTQ community involvement. Respondents were 7856 sexual minority adults aged 18–88 years from 85 countries who completed an online survey. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that marginalization was positively associated with both social and emotional loneliness, and that part of this relationship was indirect via proximal minority stress factors (especially stigma preoccupation) and, in turn, social anxiety and social inhibition. Moreover, while LGBTQ community involvement was associated with greater marginalization, it was also associated with lower levels of proximal stress and both forms of loneliness. Among those who were more involved in the LGBTQ community, the associations between marginalization and proximal stress were somewhat weaker, as were those between stigma preoccupation and social anxiety, and between social inhibition and social loneliness. In contrast, the associations between concealment and social anxiety were somewhat stronger. Model fit and patterns of association were similar after controlling for the possible confounding effect of dispositional negative affectivity, but several coefficients were lower. Findings underscore the continuing need to counter marginalization of sexual minorities, both outside and within the LGBTQ community, and suggest possible avenues for alleviating loneliness at the individual level, such as cognitive-behavioral interventions targeting stigma preoccupation and social anxiety.
Highlights
Humans are a fundamentally social species with a basic need to belong and a strong drive for intimacy and companionship (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Cacioppo & Patrick, 2008)
The measurement model had a strong fit to the data: χ2(216) = 1846.53, p < .001; comparative fit index (CFI) = .99; Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) = .98; standardized root-meansquare residual (SRMR) = .022; root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .031, 90% CI [.030, .032]
Ten percent of residual covariances remained over 2.58; when using our smaller samples, almost all were within normal range and the larger ones were broadly scattered, but some still clustered around the third emotional loneliness parcel
Summary
Humans are a fundamentally social species with a basic need to belong and a strong drive for intimacy and companionship (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Cacioppo & Patrick, 2008). Loneliness can become self-reinforcing by increasing social withdrawal; passivity; hypervigilance for social threat and conflict; negative interpretation of neutral or ambiguous social cues; unfavorable appraisals of self and others; hostility; and other negative emotions and behaviours (Cacioppo & Hawkley, 2009; Cacioppo et al, 2017; Mund & Johnson, 2021; Mund & Neyer, 2016, 2019; Qualter et al, 2015; Segel-Karpas & Ayalon, 2020; Spithoven et al, 2017; van Winkel et al, 2017) These dynamics can elicit negative perceptions and reactions by others and make them feel lonely, too (Lieberz et al, 2021; Simon & Walker, 2018). Loneliness can spread within social networks (Cacioppo et al, 2009)
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