Similarities and Differences in the Pursuit of Intimacy among Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Individuals: A Personal Projects Analysis

Abstract

Negative attitudes and discriminatory policies pertaining to same-sex relationships create social and structural inequalities, privileging heterosexuals' abilities to achieve intimacy while impeding the intimacy-related pursuits of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals. This study examined the pursuit of intimacy in the form of intimacy-related personal projects among a sample of 431 LGB and heterosexual individuals. LGBs and heterosexuals did not differ in how meaningful they rated their intimacy projects. LGBs perceived more devaluation and barriers to achieving their intimacy projects than heterosexuals. These differences were more pronounced at the macrosocial level (e.g., laws and policies). No significant sexual orientation differences were observed regarding participants' job-related projects, highlighting the domain specificity of project devaluation and barriers. Results suggest that the pursuit of intimacy is highly meaningful for both LGBs and heterosexuals. Nonetheless, LGBs experience minority stressors specific to their relational pursuits from both interpersonal and macrosocial sources, including discriminatory laws and policies. © 2011 The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.