Correlates of Satisfaction With Life for People Who Identify as Transgender and Sexual Minority

Abstract

Researchers have focused on understanding factors such as resiliency, medical concerns, and coping skills in the lives of transgender and gender-nonconforming people. However, little research has examined how transgender and gender-nonconforming people cognitively evaluate their own lives. Furthermore, many people who identify as transgender or gender-nonconforming also report a sexual minority identity status. In this study, we sought to understand how aspects of sexual self-concept (i.e., sexual esteem and sexual anxiety), internalized homonegativity, and level of outness about sexual identity correlated to self-appraisals of satisfaction with life (SWL) in a sample of transgender and gender-nonconforming people who identified as sexual minorities. Participants were recruited at a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender Pride festival and completed a paper-pencil survey. Results indicated that there was a positive relationship between SWL and sexual esteem and a negative relationship between SWL and sexual anxiety. The relationship between SWL and internalized homonegativity approached significance while level of outness did not appear to be related to SWL. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed.