Abstract
Binegativity, the negative perceptions, assumptions, and discrimination experienced by bisexual individuals, is associated with adverse health outcomes including higher rates of mood and anxiety disorders. There is a growing body of research on bisexuality, but there remains little research investigating the risk and protective factors, and the mental health outcomes of bisexual individuals in mixed-orientation relationships. The current study aimed to fill the gaps of the extant research, investigating if social support, outness of bisexual identity, satisfaction with communication between partners, and centrality of group membership and ingroup ties to the LBGT community moderate the relationship between experiences of negativity and mental health. A sample of 1,299 individuals with a sexual attraction to more than one gender and were in a monogamous relationship with someone with a sexual attraction to only one gender participated in this study. Participants completed measures assessing degree of outness of their sexual orientation, satisfaction with social supports, group membership/ingroup ties, communication with partner, experiences of anti-bisexual prejudice, as well as measures of depression, anxiety, and perceived stress to assess mental health outcomes. Pearson correlations were used to examine the relationships between measures of binegativity and mental health, finding significant positive correlations between each of these variables. Multiple linear regressions revealed that outness, social supports, ingroup ties, and communication did not moderate the relationship between binegativity and mental health outcomes. Consistent with existing literature, fewer experiences of binegativity was found to be related to higher satisfaction with social supports and communication with partner, while outness and importance of bisexual identity and LBGT community ties were associated with increased experiences of binegativity. Further research is needed to examine if and how different relationship compositions and specific sexual orientation identities are associated with the relationship between anti-bisexual experiences and mental health.
Advisor
Eric Sprankle
Committee Member
Angelica Aguirre
Committee Member
Dennis Waskul
Date of Degree
2023
Language
english
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Arts (MA)
Program of Study
Clinical Psychology
College
Humanities and Social Sciences
Recommended Citation
Bartley, A. (2023). Stress levels of bisexual individuals with mixed-orientation relationships [Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University, Mankato]. Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/1288/
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