The best little kid in the world: Internalized sexual stigma and extrinsic contingencies of self-worth, work values, and life aspirations among men and women

Abstract

According to “the Best Little Boy in the World Hypothesis” many gay men exhibit a drive to excel in achievement-related areas of life, as a way to avoid staking self-worth on domains where others’ rejection could negatively affect them. Pachankis and Hatzenbuehler's (2013) research supported this hypothesis among men. We expand on this research and hypothesized that internalized sexual stigma would be associated with achievement-related contingencies of self-worth equally for men and women with sexual minority identities. In a mixed-gender sample of 237 college students with sexual minority identities, this hypothesis was supported. In a second sample of 175 adult MTurk workers, this hypothesis was supported with additional forms of achievement-related contingencies of self-worth and extrinsic life aspirations and occupational values. Results supported the expectation that gender would not moderate these relationships, while expanding previous findings to show that internalized stigma was associated with achievement-centered outcomes beyond contingencies of self-worth.