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The Costs of Being “Different”: Sexual Identity and Subjective Wellbeing over the Life Course

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  • Francisco Perales

    (The University of Queensland)

Abstract

Vast social transformations in recent decades have resulted in the emergence of a socio-political climate that is progressively more accepting of sexual minorities. However, sexual identity remains an important aspect influencing people’s lives, and is believed to have independent effects on subjective wellbeing via stigmatization and discrimination of sexual minorities. We use recently available, nationally representative, Australian panel data (n ≈ 15,000 individuals and 111,000 person-year observations) and panel regression models to provide an encompassing and generalizable empirical account of how sexual identity influences a range of subjective wellbeing outcomes, including mental health, life satisfaction, psychological distress and feelings of safety, and how its effects evolve over individuals’ life courses. We find that the subjective wellbeing of gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals is significantly worse than that of heterosexual individuals. Disparities are most apparent during adolescence and early adulthood and tend to close as people age, especially for bisexual individuals. Existing policies outlawing direct discrimination on the grounds of sexual identity in Australia are insufficient and a more global approach to prevent systematic, structural pressures on sexual minorities needed to close sexual identity disparities in subjective wellbeing. Interventions should particularly address the needs of teenagers and young adults.

Suggested Citation

  • Francisco Perales, 2016. "The Costs of Being “Different”: Sexual Identity and Subjective Wellbeing over the Life Course," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 827-849, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:127:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-015-0974-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-015-0974-x
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    Cited by:

    1. Mann, Samuel & Blackaby, David & O’Leary, Nigel, 2019. "Sexual identity and wellbeing: A distributional analysis," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 133-136.
    2. Zofia Kardasz & Rafał Gerymski & Arkadiusz Parker, 2023. "Anxiety, Attachment Styles and Life Satisfaction in the Polish LGBTQ+ Community," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(14), pages 1-10, July.
    3. Perales, Francisco & Todd, Abram, 2018. "Structural stigma and the health and wellbeing of Australian LGB populations: Exploiting geographic variation in the results of the 2017 same-sex marriage plebiscite," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 190-199.
    4. Perales, Francisco, 2018. "The cognitive roots of prejudice towards same-sex couples: An analysis of an Australian national sample," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 117-127.
    5. Drydakis, Nick & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2020. "Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Labour Market Outcomes: New Patterns and Insights," GLO Discussion Paper Series 627, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Saxby, Karinna & de New, Sonja C. & Petrie, Dennis, 2020. "Structural stigma and sexual orientation disparities in healthcare use: Evidence from Australian Census-linked-administrative data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    7. Yazbeck M & Xu H & Azocar F & Ettner SL, 2020. "Spousal Peer Effects in Specialty Behavioral Health Services Use: Do Spillovers Vary by Gender, Subscriber Status and Sexual Orientation?," Discussion Papers Series 630, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.

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