Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Religion, Sexuality, and Internalized Homonegativity: Confronting Cognitive Dissonance in the Abrahamic Religions

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This research was aimed at investigating how religious beliefs and internalized shame predicted homonegativity. An online survey, which consisted of a self-report questionnaire assessing religious orientation, internalized shame, and internalized homonegativity, was completed by 133 Caucasian and Asian gay men. The respondents also were asked to write a short answer in which they had to explain how they integrated their religion and sexual practices. The quantitative analyses of data demonstrated no significant difference in internalized homonegativity among the two cultural groups. Internalized homonegativity was predicted by the main Abrahamic faiths (i.e. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) and internalized shame. Qualitative analysis showed that gay men who adhere to a monotheistic religious faith follow a different path to reconciling their religion and homosexuality compared to gay men who adhere to Philosophical/New Age religions or to gay men who have no religious faith. The implications of these findings as well as directions for future research studies were discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahrold, T. K., Meston, C. M. (2010). Ethnic differences in sexual attitudes of U.S. college students: Gender, acculturation, and religiosity factors. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39(1), 190–202.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Alderson, K. G. (2003). The ecological model of gay male identity. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 12, 75–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, D. J., & Oleson, T. (1999). Shame and internalized homophobia in gay men. Journal of Homosexuality, 37, 33–43.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, M., Elam, G., Gerver, S., Solarin, I., Fenton, K., & Easterbrook, P. (2009). Liminal identities: Caribbean men who have sex with men in London, UK. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 11, 315–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bag, B., Gencdogan, B., Basaran, S., Reis, N., & Kilic, D. (2005). The comparison of homosexual and heterosexual males as regards their depression, eating attitudes and self-esteem ratios sample in Turkey [Abstract]. Yeni Symposium: psikiyatri, noroloji ve davranis bilimleri dergisi, 43, 179–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bedford, O. A. (2004). The individual experience of guilt and shame in Chinese culture. Culture & Psychology, 10, 28–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bedford, O., & Hwang, K. (2003). Guild and shame in Chinese culture: A cross-cultural framework from the perspective of morality and identity. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 33, 127–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhugra, D. (1997). Coming out by south Asian gay men in the United Kingdom. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 26, 547–557.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Botnick, M. R. (2000). Part 2: Fear of contagion, fear of intimacy. Journal of Homosexuality, 38, 77–101.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brewczynski, J., & MacDonald, D. A. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis of the Allport and Ross Religious Orientation Scale with a Polish Sample. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 16, 63–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J. (2007). Therapy with same sex couples: Guidelines for embracing the subjugated discourse. In J. Crawley & E. Shaw (Eds.), Couple therapy in Australia. Issues emerging from practice (pp. 77–87). Melbourne: Psych Oz.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J., & Trevethan, R. (2010). Shame, internalized homophobia, identity formation, attachment style and the connection to relations. American Journal of Men’s Health, 4, 267–276.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cook, D. R. (1996). Empirical studies of shame and guilt: The internalized shame scale. In D. L. Nathanson (Ed.), Knowing feeling affect, script, and psychotherapy (pp. 132–165). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Visser, R. O., Smith, A. M. A., Richters, J., & Rissel, C. E. (2007). Associations between religiosity and sexuality in a representative sample of Australian adults. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36, 33–46.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • del Rosario, P. M., & White, R. M. (2006). The Internalized shame scale: Temporal stability, internal consistency, and principal components analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 41, 95–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubé, E. M., Savin-Williams, R. C. (1999). Sexual identity development among ethnic sexual-minority male youths. Developmental Psychology, 35(6), 1389–1398.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frost, D. M., & Meyer, I. H. (2009). Internalized homophobia and relationship quality among lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 56, 97–109.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, D. I., Gray-Stanley, J., & Ramirez-Valles, J. (2008). The priest obviously doesn’t know that I’m gay: The religious and spiritual journeys of Latino gay men. Journal of Homosexuality, 55, 411–436.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Haldeman, D. C. (2004). When sexual and religious orientation collide: Considerations in working with conflicted same-sex attracted male clients. The Counseling Psychologist, 32, 691–715.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, S. (2001). Culture, sexualities, and identitities. Journal of Homosexuality, 40, 99–115.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kimmel, D. C., & Yi, H. (2004). Characteristics of gay, lesbian, and bisexual Asians, Asian Americans, and immigrants from Asia to the USA. Journal of Homosexuality, 47, 143–172.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kort, J. (2008). Gay affirmative therapy for the straight clinician. The essential guide. New York: W. W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lease, S. H., Home, S. G., & Noffsinger-Frazier, N. (2005). Affirming faith experiences and psychological health for Caucasian lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(3), 378–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leeming, D., & Boyle, M. (2004). Shame as a social phenomenon: A critical analysis of the concept of dispositional shame. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 77, 375–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahaffy, K. A. (1996). Cognitive dissonance and its resolution: A study of lesbian Christians. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 35, 392–402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayfield, W. (2001). The development of an internalized homonegativity inventory for gay men. Journal of Homosexuality, 41, 53–76.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Murray, K. M., Ciarrocchi, J. W., & Murray-Swank, N. A. (2007). Spirituality, religiosity, shame and guilt as predictors of sexual attitudes and experiences. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 35, 222–234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noffsinger-Frazier, N. (2003). When orientations conflict: The role of religious orientation, depression, personalized homonegativity, and religious conflict among predominantly Caucasian LGBT individuals. Division 44 Newsletter, 19(3), 6–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peng, K., & Nisbett, R. E. (1999). Culture, dialectics, and reasoning about contradiction. American Psychologist, 54, 741–754.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ratti, R., Bakeman, R., & Peterson, J. L. (2000). Correlates of high-risk sexual behaviour among Canadian men of South Asian and European origin who have sex with men. AIDS Care, 12, 193–202.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reilly, A., & Rudd, N. A. (2006). Is internalized homonegativity related to body image? Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 35, 58–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosario, M., Schrimshaw, E. W., & Hunter, J. (2004). Ethnic/racial differences in the coming out process of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths: A comparison of sexual identity development over time. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 10, 215–228.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosser, B. R. S., Bockting, W. O., Ross, M. W., Miner, M. H., & Coleman, E. (2008). The relationship between homosexuality, internalized homo-negativity, and mental health in men who have sex with men. Journal of Homosexuality, 55, 185–203.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sheeran, P., Abrams, D., Abraham, C., & Spears, R. (1993). Religiosity and adolescents’ premarital sexual attitudes and behavior: An empirical study of conceptual issues. European Journal of Social Psychology, 23, 39–52.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sherry, A. (2007). Internalized homophobia and adult attachment: Implications for clinical practice. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 44(2), 219–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szymanski, D. M., & Gupta, A. (2009). Examining the relationship between multiple oppressions and Asian American sexual minority persons’ psychological distress. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, 21, 267–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szymanski, D. M., Kashubeck-West, S., & Meyer, J. (2008). Internalized heterosexism: Measurement, psychosocial correlates, and research directions. The Counseling Psychologist, 36, 525–574.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tang, M., Wang, Z., Qian, M., Gao, J., & Zhang, L. (2008). Transferred shame in the cultures of interdependent-self and independent self. Journal of Cognition and Cultures, 8, 163–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torres, A. N. (2008). Internalized homophobia, self esteem, gender roles, body image, and disordered eating in gay and bisexual men. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Science and Engineering, 68(11B), 7680.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tozer, E. E., & Hayes, J. A. (2004). Why do individuals seek conversion therapy? The role of religiosity, internalized homonegativity and identity development. The Counseling Psychologist, 32, 716–740.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walton, G. (2006). Fag church: Men who integrate gay and Christian identities. Journal of Homosexuality, 51, 1–17.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, F. T. Y., Bih, H., & Brennan, D. J. (2009). Have they really come out: Gay men and their parents in Taiwan. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 11, 285–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wicklund, R. A., & Brehm, J. W. (1976). Perspectives on cognitive dissonance. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum associates, publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yakushko, O. (2005). Influence of social support, existential well-being, and stress over sexual orientation and self esteem of gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 27, 131–143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Pikria Meladze & Jac Brown

Authors
  1. Pikria Meladze
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jac Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jac Brown.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Meladze, P., Brown, J. Religion, Sexuality, and Internalized Homonegativity: Confronting Cognitive Dissonance in the Abrahamic Religions. J Relig Health 54, 1950–1962 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0018-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0018-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation