Jain's “Becoming Myself: Authenticity as a Pathway Toward Well-Being for Sexual Minority Populations”
“Becoming Myself: Authenticity as a Pathway Toward Well-Being for Sexual Minority Populations”
In recent years, studies have emerged that highlight the positive aspects of the LGBTQ+ experience (Riggle et al., 2008; Tebbe et al., 2022).
Although the existing literature has identified LGB-specific risk factors, such as identity concealment, internalized heterosexism, and other stigma-related stress, as potential targets for mental health interventions (Pachankis, 2018), there is a need to also focus on protective factors that can be nurtured to support LGB+ well-being.
[P]rior research suggests that there are factors that can counteract the negative effects of internalized stigma and bolster authenticity among LGB+ individuals, such as having a strong sense of spirituality (Lassiter & Mims, 2022), cultivating compassion (Beard et al., 2017), and having high psychological flexibility (Karakuş & Akbay, 2022).
[B]ased on themes that emerged from qualitative data and subsequent factor analyses, Riggle et al. (2014) determined that authenticity, self-awareness, community, intimacy, and social justice best represent positive LGB+ identity.
Out of the different aspects of positive LGB+ identity, authenticity seems to be particularly salient in this population. In Riggle et al.’s (2008) qualitative study, they found that many LGB+ participants reported feeling a sense of freedom from gender norms, which allowed them to connect with their authentic selves. For instance, one participant from Riggle et al.’s study shared, “I can play (to some extent) by different rules in life (that is, I can be a strong, tough aggressive woman) because I have already broken a major one by being a lesbian” (p. 214). As the quote suggests, society often puts individuals socialized to be “men” and “women” in a box such that it restricts them from truly expressing themselves. However, since being non-heterosexual itself is a “violation” of the norm, LGB+ individuals gain the freedom to be their authentic selves in other aspects of life as well. Another participant from the study shared a similar sentiment, “Our relationship was ‘unconventional’ to start with, which has given us the opportunity to work on it with a lot of freedom [including] more sexual freedom” (p. 214). Thus, being LGB+ incidentally frees a person from societal expectations, especially as they relate to love, desire, gender, sexuality, and relationships, and allows sexual minority individuals to create their own definition of each of these terms.
In a study conducted by Rostosky et al. (2018), the relationship between positive LGB+ identity and eudemonic well-being was examined using correlations and structural equation modeling. The six domains of eudemonic well-being in the study included positive relations with others, autonomy, personal growth, environmental mastery, self-acceptance, and purpose in life. Results indicated that as compared to the other positive identity variables, authenticity had the strongest correlations with all six domains of well-being, with Pearson’s r ranging from .29 to .44. Furthermore, after controlling for the other positive identity variables, authenticity was the only one that accounted for significant variance in all six well-being domains.
[B]eing authentic does not equate to coming out to one’s friends and family and not hiding one’s LGB+ identity from others. While authenticity includes an interpersonal aspect of being honest and genuine with others, it also includes an intrapersonal aspect which is not captured by the other two constructs. In particular, authenticity entails a feeling of comfort and peace with oneself and one’s identity such that one is able to be true to oneself and feel aligned with one’s values. Thus, an authentic person can look like someone who is true to themselves while also concealing their LGB+ identity to protect their safety and integrity.
The importance of distinguishing between authenticity and identity disclosure is highlighted by Riggle et al.’s (2017) study, in which they found that “outness” predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms, whereas authenticity predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms and stress.
Szymanski and Carr (2008) examined the relationship between gender role conflict, internalized heterosexism, self-esteem, avoidant coping, and psychological distress in a sample of sexual minority men. The authors found that gender role conflict predicted internalized heterosexism, which predicted lower self-esteem, which in turn predicted psychological distress and avoidant coping.
While spirituality and religion are closely interconnected, it is important to distinguish between the two constructs, as they have distinct relationships with well-being among LGBTQ+ individuals. Religion, which emphasizes institutional beliefs and norms, can often be used as a weapon to propagate heterosexist views that can be harmful to the LGBTQ+ community (Lassiter et al., 2023) ... On the other hand, spirituality, which simply emphasizes the connection with the sacred, allows individuals to access feelings of unconditional love and acceptance. Thus, spirituality is associated with positive mental health outcomes among LGB+ individuals, such as lower levels of depression, higher self-esteem, and greater purpose in life (Lassiter et al., 2023).
“Once I realized that God was 100% cool with my sexuality, it became ... easier to come out to others... it’s hard to fear rejection from others when you know the God of the Universe has your back” (p. 131). Thus, one way in which spirituality may foster authenticity is by helping LGB+ individuals feel greater love and compassion toward themselves and their own identities.
Lassiter and Mims (2022) conducted a qualitative study with 10 Black sexual minority men in which they asked them about the role spirituality plays in their lives. Out of the seven themes that emerged, three in particular are important to note: 1) emotional revelation, that is spiritual consciousness facilitating the recognition of emotions that are difficult to sit with, 2) emotional emancipation, that is spiritual consciousness facilitating the embodiment and expression of emotions without any judgment, and 3) emotional regulation, that is spiritual consciousness facilitating the increase of positive emotions and the decrease of negative emotions.
[B]eing self-compassionate can ease the coming out process by allowing LGB+ individuals to be more self-accepting regardless of the reaction of others (Beard et al., 2017).
Zhang et al. (2019) conducted a series of studies, ranging from cross-sectional to longitudinal and experimental, which showed that self-compassion can help foster authenticity. In one of their experimental studies, the researchers assigned 298 college students to either a self-compassion condition, a self-esteem condition, or a control condition. Participants across all conditions were asked to reflect on and journal about a personal weakness of theirs. Participants in the self-compassion condition received additional instructions to write about the weakness from a compassionate perspective whereas participants in the self-esteem condition were asked to write from the perspective of validating their positive qualities. Results indicated that participants in the self-compassion condition had higher self-reported authenticity as compared to the other two conditions. These findings suggest that self-compassion can be even more effective than self-esteem in helping individuals cultivate greater authenticity.
Authentic pride is considered the more adaptive kind of pride in which attributions are made to internal and controllable causes (e.g., I worked hard to achieve that), whereas hubristic pride is considered maladaptive as it is attributed to internal and uncontrollable causes (e.g., I did well because I am smart). The results from the study indicated that self-compassion was positively correlated with outness, authentic pride, and general well-being, and negatively correlated with hubristic pride and internalized sexual stigma.
[I]n a study by Chan et al. (2020) with a sample of 401 LGB+ individuals[, t]he results indicated that self-compassion moderated the relationship between stigma stress and internalized sexual stigma such that individuals with greater self-compassion reported a weaker association between stigma stress and internalized stigma. Similarly, self-compassion also moderated the relationship between stigma stress and mental health outcomes, namely depression, anxiety, social connectedness, and loneliness.
[B]eing LGBTQ+ may offer individuals greater freedom to identify with what feels right to them. As discussed earlier, the context in which LGB+ individuals discover themselves often falls outside of the structure created by rigid gender norms. This unique circumstance may allow sexual minority individuals to listen to their true selves rather than requiring them to modify their experiences to satisfy societal expectations. Thus, greater fluidity in one’s gender and sexual identity, a sign of psychological flexibility, may be another way in which greater authenticity is cultivated in this population.
To date, LGB-affirmative treatments have mostly focused on helping clients cope with minority stress by addressing factors such as shame, self-criticism, internalized heterosexism, and other forms of stigma-related stress (Pachankis, 2018; Petrocchi et al., 2016). Given the research on the role of authenticity in the well-being of LGB+ individuals, clinicians might consider reconceptualizing the target of their treatments. While a major goal of the treatment may still be to address minority stress, an additional goal may be to help clients develop resilience and inner strength by allowing them to cultivate greater authenticity. As reviewed in this paper, this may be done by using techniques that nurture clients’ spirituality, help them cultivate self-compassion, and increase their psychological flexibility.
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