Internalized Homonegativity and the Challenges of Having Same-Sex Desires in the Lebanese Context: A Study Examining Risk and Protective Factors

ABSTRACT

Internalized homonegativity (IH) has received increased attention in the literature on sexual minorities. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research on IH in conservative Arab cultures like Lebanon. The present study aimed to cover this gap by exploring risk and protective factors of IH in Lebanese sexual minorities. A hierarchical multiple regression (N = 210) revealed that religiosity, parental rejection (actual or anticipated), and legal discrimination were significant risk factors of IH, while sense of belonging to the LGBT community was a strong protective factor. Although self-compassion did not emerge as a predictor, it had interesting interactions on the bivariate level. Results, limitations, clinical implications, and recommendations for future research and policy making are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Internalized homonegativity
• risk factors
• protective factors
• LGB community
• cultural considerations
• Arab societies
• legal discrimination
• parental attitudes
• self-compassion
• Lebanon

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.