Heterosexual bias in the identity self-portraits of gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals

This study examined identity processes of gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals. Self-esteem scores, perceived stigma scores, and identity structures were obtained for 19 gay, bisexual, and lesbian participants. It was predicted that participants with heterosexually biased roles in superordinate positions in their identity structures would describe themselves more negatively and would have lower self-esteem. Additionally, those with higher perceived stigma would describe themselves more negatively and would have lower self-esteem. Seventy-three percent of the participants indicated that they were in one or more heterosexually biased roles. As predicted, heterosexually biased superordinate roles and negative self-descriptive attributes both relate to lower self-esteem. Higher perceived stigma does not relate to self-esteem and instead correlates with increased use of positive self-descriptive attributes.