Internalized Homophobia and Distress among Participants in Support Groups for Homosexuals: Secular versus Ultra-Orthodox Participants

The study compared internalized homophobia and distress among 135 participants in gay and lesbian support groups in Israel, by extent of religiosity (secular vs. ultra-Orthodox) and gender. Another goal of the study was to examine whether the contribution of personal resources (self-esteem and self-differentiation) and environmental resources (emotional support) to explaining distress differed for secular versus ultra-Orthodox participants, and for men versus women. As expected, religiosity contributed most significantly to explaining distress. Several differences were found between men and women with regard to the outcome variable and the explanatory variables, irrespective of religiosity. Notably, distress and levels of internalized homophobia were lower for women than for men, although levels of emotional support were higher for women.