The effect of internalized homonegativity on the reaction of homosexual men to anti-gay social commentary

This study measured changes in levels of dysphoria in homosexual males following exposure to a video containing negative social commentary about homosexuals and homosexuality. The primary prediction was that higher levels of internalized homonegativity result in greater vulnerability to dysphoric affect related to this exposure. lnternalized homonegativity is defined as prejudicial views about homosexuals, which develop in early childhood prior to the recognition of one's own homosexuality. As a result, the process of coming out is particularly difficult because it theoretically requires the incorporation of previously held ami-homosexual views into one's new self-concept as a gay man. Reduction in internalized homonegative beliefs through identity integration and disputation of prejudicial thinking is thought to be the primary task of the coming-out process. It was hypothesized that the difference between gay men who react toward anti-gay attitudes with depressive affect and those who learn to cope with social prejudice without becoming dysphoric was the level of internalized anti-gay beliefs. Those men who have been able to resolve these issues would be buffered against dysphoria