Suchergebnisse

Previous research has yielded important understandings of how sexual minorities adjust to living in a heteronormative culture, but scholarly critiques of assimilation and Merton's research on adaptations to deviance suggest value in examining whether there are distinct types of adaptation. Applying Merton's definition of adaptations in anomic environments suggests that different patterns can be defined depending on the importance placed on assimilation and on sexual expression. Using the 1997 Urban Men's Health Study data (n=2,585), four different adaptation patterns are defined: MSM conformist, MSM innovator, MSM nonconformist, and MSM uninvolved. To establish criterion validity, expected correlates of membership in each group are then examined. The distinct groups, each representing from 20 percent to 30 percent of the sample, largely conformed to expectations on measures of sexual self-identification, involvement in gay culture, intimacy and sexual exploration, health, and income. Scholarly and policy implications of the adaptation typology are considered.

Research on the effects of sexual orientation on gay male status attainment has been hampered by the use of opportunistic samples and by the inability to control for family background and sexual orientation characteristics. This research uses data from the Urban Men's Health Study, a multicity probability sample, to examine the status attainment process among men who identify as gay or bisexual (N = 2,290). Logistic regression is used to measure the effects of teen sexual orientation and adult expression of sexual orientation on educational achievement and household income. Early decision that one is gay and early homosexual activity are related to reduced educational achievement. Teen sexual orientation and adult expression of sexual orientation are not directly related to income, though education was. These findings suggest that the costs of discrimination encountered early in life are an important component of the reduced status attainment of gay males.