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‘I Do Not Like Being Me’: The Impact of Self-Hate on Increased Risky Sexual Behavior in Sexual Minority People
Nappa, Maria Rosaria Bartolo, Maria Giuseppina Pistella, Jessica Petrocchi, Nicola
Costabile, Angela Baiocco, Roberto
Nappa, Maria Rosaria
Bartolo, Maria Giuseppina
Pistella, Jessica
Costabile, Angela
Baiocco, Roberto
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Abstract
Background
Increased risky sexual behaviors (RSB) in sexual minority people relative to heterosexual individuals are well documented. However, the role of trans-diagnostic factors that are not sexual orientation-specific, such as self-criticism, in predicting RSB was understudied. The present study aimed to test participants’ gender and sexual orientation as moderators between self-criticism and RSB.
Methods
Data were collected during 2019. The total sample included 986 sexual minority people (Nwomen = 51%) and 853 heterosexual people (Nwomen = 46%), ranging from 18 to 35 years of age. Self-criticism dimensions (self-hate, self-inadequacy, self-reassurance), types of positive affect (relaxed, safe/content, and activated affect), and RSB were assessed. Bivariate, multivariate analyses, and moderated regression analyses were conducted.
Results
Sexual minority participants showed higher levels of RSB, self-hate, and self-inadequacy than heterosexual people. Only in sexual minority men, RSB correlated positively with self-hate and negatively with safe/content positive affect. Moderated regressions showed that only for sexual minority participants, higher RSB were predicted by higher levels of self-hate. At the same time, this association was not significant for heterosexual people controlling the effects of age, presence of a stable relationship, other self-criticism dimensions, and activation safe/content affect scale. The two-way interaction between sexual orientation and gender was significant, showing that regardless of self-hate, the strength of the association between sexual orientation and RSB is stronger for sexual minority men than sexual minority women and heterosexual participants.
Conclusions
Findings highlight the distinctive role of self-hate in the occurrence of RSB in sexual minority people and support the usefulness of developing a compassion-focused intervention to target self-hate in sexual minority people.
Description
Date
2021
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Research Projects
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Keywords
Sexual behavior, Sexual minorities
Citation
Nappa, Maria Rosaria, Maria Giuseppina Bartolo, Jessica Pistella, Nicola Petrocchi, Angela Costabile, and Roberto Baiocco. “‘I Do Not Like Being Me’: The Impact of Self-Hate on Increased Risky Sexual Behavior in Sexual Minority People.” Sexuality Research and Social Policy 19 (2): 737–50. 2021.