Conflict between religious/spiritual and LGB identities in Portugal: How is it related to coming out experiences, LGB identity dimensions and well-being?

Abstract

Even though Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual (LGB) individuals are usually less religious than the general population, religion and/or spirituality are still a part of many LGB people's lives. This article focused on investigating the relation between the conflict between religious/spiritual and LGB identities and subjective well-being, dimensions of LGB identity and outness, in a Portuguese sample. The participants were 126LGB people, with 80 of them being female, from a mostly Catholic context in Southern Europe-Portugal. Conflict between religious and LGB identities was found to be significantly and negatively correlated with outness and positive affect; and positively correlated with negative affect and some LGB identity dimensions, Internalized Homonegativity, Difficult Process (DP), Acceptance Concerns (AC), and Concealment Motivation (CM). People who felt conflict between their religious/spiritual and LGB identities were found to have higher scores on DP, AC, CM, and Identity Centrality than those who did not experience it. Implications are discussed in terms of the diversity of strategies LGB people use to reconcile their dual identities.

Associations between religion and suicidality for LGBTQ individuals: A systematic review

“…Identity conflict itself is not an aspect of religiosity but refers to the tension that many LGBTQ individuals feel between their religious and sexual-gender identities. Studies that examine the role of identity centrality and integration with other aspects of LGBTQ well-being indicate that conflict between religious and sexual-gender identities almost universally leads to deleterious outcomes (Beagan & Hattie, 2015; Dahl & Galliher, 2012; Fernandes et al, 2023; Sherry et al, 2010). Such conflict is central to both minority stress theory and Cass’ identity development model.…”

Being out in high school: Positive implications for well-being in three U.S. cohorts of sexual minority adults.

“…The researchers validated the identity centrality subscale in two different samples of adult SM undergraduate students, and found that concealment of sexual identity predicts lower identity centrality (Mohr & Kendra, 2011). The subscale has been replicated in a handful of studies with mixed findings regarding its relation to other domains of well-being (Dunn & Szymanski, 2018; Fernandes et al, 2023; Jennings & Sprankle, 2023). A systematic meta-analysis of identity centrality found that identity centrality was associated with higher levels of prejudice and discrimination centrality (Hinton et al, 2022).…”