What would you know about it? Managing ingroup vs. outgroup perceived support of same-sex vs. mixed-sex romantic relationships

Abstract

Social support for relationships is an important predictor of relationship well-being, duration, and mental and physical health. But does the source of the support matter? This article examines whether there is potential moderation by the ingroup versus outgroup status of the person offering the support. Specifically, in a sample of 407 individuals in mixed-sex versus same-sex relationships, we assessed how much social support individuals perceived for their relationship from members of their social network who were queer versus straight. Those in same-sex relationships had significantly more queer members within their social networks than those in mixed-sex relationships (38.6% vs. 8.1%). We found that although those in both types of relationships perceived more support for their relationships from ingroup network members, only those in mixed-sex relationships demonstrated a stronger association between ingroup (straight) support and relationship well-being. Those in same-sex relationships showed relatively weak associations between network members’ support for the relationship and their relationship well-being, regardless of source. Results are interpreted in light of the social identity perspective, and we also discuss the potential for attributional ambiguity and discounting of others’ opinions about their relationships within the context of same-sex relationships.

Keywords:

• Social support for relationships
• same-sex relationships
• ingroup
• outgroup
• attributional ambiguity
• social identity perspective

Notes

1 Where relevant, we have used GLBQ in lieu of GLBTQ to avoid conflating sexual identity with gender identity. Thus, where we are only referring specifically to sexual identity, we use GLBQ, and where we are referring to a broader community or to research that has specifically been inclusive of transgender experiences, we use GLBTQ.

2 For ease of reading, queer is used as an umbrella term to refer to those network members identified by the participants as not being straight/heterosexual.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by student fellowships awarded to the first author by the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (#78397), as well as by a research grant from the Lesbian Health Fund, Gay and Lesbian Medical Association.