GROUP-LEVEL COPING AS A MODERATOR BETWEEN HETEROSEXISM AND SEXISM AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IN SEXUAL MINORITY WOMEN

The purpose of this study was: (1) to examine concurrently the relationship between heterosexist events and sexist events and psychological distress and (2) to investigate sexual orientation-based and gender-based group-level coping as potential moderators of the heterosexism-distress and sexism-distress links among 282 lesbian and bisexual women. Findings from the Internet survey revealed that, when examined together, both heterosexism and sexism were unique and additive predictors of psychological distress. Results also supported a moderating role of feminist group-level coping in the link between number of sexist events and psychological distress, with the difference between the high- and low-feminist-activity groups occurring at the lower levels of sexism. Thus, it appears that high involvement in feminist activities may provide a buffer against the negative effects of sexism, but only when sexist events are relatively low in number.