THE MODERATING EFFECT OF IMPORTANCE GIVEN TO SOCIAL SUPPORT ON

THE INFLUENCE OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION ON EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING

INTRODUCTION

Over the past decades, the development of generations has led to progressive changes to

occur in the society. There is a continuous eradication of prejudice and discrimination against

homosexuality. Recent years have shown a remarkable shift in acceptance towards the rights of

people of the LGBTQ+ community. In a survey done by Pew Research Center in 2020, there has

been a noticeable increase in acceptance of homosexuality across the world, more so in Western

Europe and the Americas than in the Middle East and Asia.

However, there is much yet to be seen in the overall elimination of health disparities by

sexual orientation, especially in mental health. Studies on millennial youths have shown that the

current generation have higher prevalence of being suicidal. This implies that, although there have

been considerable changes to achieve greater equality for sexual and gender minorities, these

remain to be too limited to determine their impact on mental health and overall well-being. It is of

great importance for public health researches to continue to assess changes in stigma,

discrimination, and attitudes towards sexual and gender minorities and how they influence health

disparities (Meyer, 2016).

Sexual Orientation

People in the LGBTQ+ community are at higher risk of experiencing symptoms of poor

mental health and low wellbeing compared to people who identify as heterosexual. With the use

of individual participant meta-analysis to determine the relationship of mental health symptoms

and sexual orientation. Results showed that those who were more likely to have poor mental health

were significantly younger LGBTQ+ individuals, which compromised more men, fewer ethnic

minorities, higher levels of education attainment, more smokers, and fewer who were married and

have significant others (King et al., 2016).

Evidences from the longitudinal analysis study of Cortina et al. (2014) showed that there

are general differences between heterosexuals and nonheterosexuals. Particularly,

nonheterosexuals presented weaker mental health with lesser social integration, especially at a

younger age with fewer coping methods in place. Furthermore, in conducting the research, the

outcomes for mental health symptoms, social alienation, and self-esteem were also considered.

However, no differences were found for self-esteem as indicator for general well-being.

Another research study reported that among college students, those who identify as LGB

and unsure of their sexuality have higher levels of mental health issues and more negative impact

on academics than heterosexual students. The study was conducted using the Fall 2009 American

College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (Oswalt, 2011).

According to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF, 2017), the LGBTQ+ youth

are more susceptible to struggle with their mental health than non-LGBTQ+ youth because of

sitgma and discrimination. In a 2016-2017 survey, HRCF reported that 68% percent of LGBTQ+

youth claimed they felt depression compared to only 12% of non-LGBTQ+ youth. Furthermore,

LGBTQ+ adults are more at risk to experience symptoms of mental illness and problems in

substance use.

There are many evidences of the experiences of young LGB people as to what may be the

underlying implications for their emotional well-being. By employing a two-stage methodology:

a self-completion survey and a follow-up stage of individual interviews and group discussions, the

study focused on issues about homosexuality, homophobia, other gender identities within school

and work settings. It was identified that there was a range of experiences of homophobia and

bullying against young LGB people and others who were perceived to be different than most.

Homophobia is a broader problem that influences the environment in which young people

frequent, rather than an individualized problem of bullying. This indicates that negative

experiences of LGB people have an impact upon their emotional well-being and a positive sense

of self (Formby, 2014).

Further studies have aimed to research about the everyday life and issues of LGBT people

to understand their impacts on mental health and overall psychological well-being. The findings

of a survey instrument on mental health indicators determined that the stigma and discrimination

faced by LGBT individuals resulted in negative experiences. Consequently, this caused many to
suffer in depression and suicidal thoughts and behavior. A considerable majority (86%) of the

survey participants reported having depression. They identified several primary stressors that

contributed to their psychological distress which included stigma against their sexual orientation,

lack of social support and integration and exclusion from the larger community (Mayock et al.,

2008).

Social Support

The study of Borsa et al. (2019) investigated the mediating effect of social and family

support on the components of minority stress (victimization, internalized homophobia, and

concealment of sexual orientation) among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people. The results in

the social and family support responses presented mid-level values in the scales and low level

values for minority stress, which is found to be better than expected for the people in the sexual

minority sample. The outcome indicates that these individuals have contextual coping resources

and a reasonable support network that can have a positive outcome for their mental health.

Existing studies have highlighted how the composition and functions of social support can

differ among homosexuals and heterosexuals. It is revealed that there are different patterns of

social support in LGB individuals and heterosexuals. Specifically, people tend to seek everyday

support with other people who have the same preferences and circumstances as them. LGB people

rely more on families of their own choice, such as peers within the LGBTQ+ community than

families of origin as the latter sometimes reject a LGB child (Frost et al., 2016).

Individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) have lesser

outcomes of mental health than non-LGBT people, however LGBT people who are involve in a
LGBT-specific support organizations had greater levels of mental health compared to the opposite

(Brown, 2017). The findings of this study suggests that being surrounded and supported by people

who are similar to them have a positive on the mental well-being of LGBT people.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

There is a prevalent discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals which cause this

population to experience poorer mental health results in comparison with heterosexuals. To

improve this phenomenon, healthcare providers need to take this in great consideration in order

for there to be an efficient course of action (Moagi et al., 2021). This research paper aims to further

provide evidence on the how the negative experiences of people who identify as homosexual

influences their emotional wellbeing with the moderating role of social support.

Research Hypothesis: The negative experiences given by sexual influence on emotional

well-being is significantly reduced due to the importance of having a strong social support.

RESEARCH DESIGN

The research design of the paper will is a Descriptive-Quantitative research design will be

used for the the study to be able to observe and intrpret a certain phenomenon without influencing

the subjects (Miksza & Elpus, 2018). A survey instrument containing a five point Likert scale for

each variable (predictor, outcome, moderator) with the sample size of 20 respondents.

Subsequently, the moderation analysis will be utilized to better understand the influence of the

importance give to social support on the influence of sexual orientation on emotional well-being.
Based from the related literature, it is established that there is a negative effect of sexual orientation

on emotional well-being, thus, by employing the moderation test, the researcher will be able to

investigate when this condition occurs under the influence of the moderating variable of social

support.
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