Identity Resilience, Community Connectedness, and Sociosexuality Among Gay and Bisexual Men: The Mediating Effect of Internalized Homonegativity

Abstract

Highlights: Public health relevance—How does this work relate to a public health issue? Sociosexuality among gay and bisexual men has been framed within public health primarily as a precipitant of sexual risk, particularly in relation to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. This study reframes that discourse by examining sociosexuality alongside aspects of sexual health promotion, such as PrEP and condom use self-efficacy. By situating sociosexuality within identity processes, community connectedness, and internalized homonegativity, this work addresses broader public health concerns relating to mental health, wellbeing, and health-promoting sexual decision-making among sexual minority men. Public health significance—Why is this work of significance to public health? The findings challenge deficit-based and risk-only public health narratives by demonstrating that sociosexuality is also associated with positive identity profiles and psychosocial wellbeing, rather than solely reflecting pathology or poor risk appraisal. By showing that internalized homonegativity mediates associations between identity resources and sociosexuality, the study identifies internalized homonegativity as a modifiable identity evaluation construct with implications for both sexual health and mental health outcomes. Public health implications—What are the key implications or messages for practitioners, policy makers and/or researchers in public health? Public health interventions and sexual health services should adopt sex-positive, stigma-informed approaches that recognize sociosexuality as a normative and potentially beneficial aspect of gay and bisexual men’s lives, particularly when supported by effective sexual health promotion strategies. Policies and programs that strengthen identity resilience and LGBT+ community connectedness, while actively addressing internalized homonegativity, may enhance both sexual wellbeing and engagement with HIV/STI prevention, demonstrating the value of integrated psychosocial and biomedical approaches in public health practice. Sociosexuality refers to the proclivity to engage in casual sex without commitment and is generally operationalized in terms of attitudes, behavior, and desire. Moving beyond the dominant focus on sexual risk and pathology in studies of sociosexuality, this study conceptualizes sociosexuality as a positive psychological variable that reflects the enactment of sexual identity among gay and bisexual men. Using cross-sectional correlational survey data from 512 gay and bisexual men in the United Kingdom, the direct associations between sociosexuality and identity resilience and LGBT+ community connectedness, and indirect associations through the mediation of internalized homonegativity, were examined. Results showed that identity resilience was indirectly associated with higher sociosexuality via decreased internalized homonegativity, and that LGBT+ community connectedness was directly and positively associated with sociosexuality and indirectly via decreased internalized homonegativity. The findings suggest that the adaptive self-schema of identity resilience and the adaptive relational schema of community connectedness may militate against internalized homonegativity, which in turn may facilitate sociosexuality among gay and bisexual men. Interventions to support sexual identity enactment should therefore focus on developing these adaptive schemas.