Initial examination of social compensation and honing frameworks for sexual minority social life and well-being

Megan L. Robbins, Alexander Karan, Ashley K. Randall

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    2 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    The present study used an ecologically-valid approach to address the lack of understanding of similarities and differences in social network size and social interaction quality, and links to affect, among same- and different-gender couples. People in couples who self-identified as a woman with a woman (n = 48), man with a man (n = 40), woman with a man (n = 33), and man with a woman (n = 33) completed a single measure of social network size, and momentary assessments of social interaction quality and affect throughout their days over two weekends. Women reported lower interaction quality, less positive, and more negative affect (actor effects); similar results were also found for those who were partnered with a woman (partner effects). However, results showed an interaction of actor and partner gender, such that people in different-gender couples experienced lower interaction quality, less positive, and more negative affect than same-gender couples. Overall, results provide preliminary evidence of a honing framework, where people in same-gender couples hone their social networks down to high-quality interaction partners, more than people in different-gender couples, and experience similar links between social interactions and affect compared to people in different-gender couples.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)301-321
    Number of pages21
    JournalJournal of Social and Personal Relationships
    Volume38
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Jan 2021

    Keywords

    • Ambulatory assessment
    • Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)
    • LGBT
    • romantic relationships
    • sexual minority
    • social network

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Social Psychology
    • Communication
    • Developmental and Educational Psychology
    • Sociology and Political Science

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