Minority stress and the psychological well-being of non-heteronormative people: The mediating role of internal dialogues.

Abstract

Objectives: Non-heteronormative people experience minority stress, which co-occurs with suicidal thoughts, symptoms of depression, lower self-esteem, and low life satisfaction. The aim of the article is to establish the relationship between minority stress experienced by these people and their psychological well-being, and to determine whether internal dialogues mediate this relationship.

Methods: 130 non-heterosexual people aged 18-46 were studied. In addition to the sociodemographic survey, the Minority Stress Scale (MSS), the Functions of Dialogues - Revised Questionnaire (FUND-R) and the Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWBS) were used.

Results: It was found that psychological well-being correlates negatively with aspects of minority stress - expectation of rejection and hiding, but positively with the level of self-disclosure and satisfaction with self-disclosure. Ruminative dialogues mediate the negative relationships between the expectation of rejection and well-being as well as between hiding and well-being, while self-knowing dialogues mediate positive relationships between the level of disclosure and well-being as well as between satisfaction with disclosure and well-being.

Conclusions: In order to improve the well-being of non-heteronormative patients/clients experiencing minority stress, in psychological or psychiatric practice it is worth reducing their ruminative dialogues and replacing them with self-knowing dialogues.