Psychological Mechanisms of Social Identity and Self-Acceptance in Sexual Minority Groups

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-553-9_15How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Sexual Minorities; Self-acceptance; Minority Stress; Social Identity; Mental Health

Abstract

Sexual minority individuals face unique psychological challenges profoundly shaped by societal heteronormativity and stigma. Grounded in Meyer’s minority stress theory, this review synthesizes empirical evidence on the critical interplay between social identity processes and self-acceptance among lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and related communities (LGBQ +). Research consistently indicates that lower self-acceptance of one’s sexuality is strongly associated with exposure to minority stressors--such as a lack of familial acceptance, experiences of discrimination, and internalized heterosexism. These stressors, in turn, correlate significantly with adverse mental health outcomes, including elevated depression and heightened psychological distress. Notably, disparities exist within the community: bisexual individuals often report lower sexuality self-acceptance compared to their gay and lesbian peers, while lesbian women tend to exhibit lower self-acceptance than gay men. Theoretical models of social identity development, such as Cass’s linear progression framework and Elizur and Mintzer’s task-oriented approach, suggest that achieving self-acceptance involves actively rejecting internalized stigma, increasing self-disclosure, and fostering a strong sense of community connectedness.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Ziyu Yang
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/25
TI  - Psychological Mechanisms of Social Identity and Self-Acceptance in Sexual Minority Groups
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 4th International Conference on Educational Science and Social Culture (ESSC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 122
EP  - 141
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-553-9_15
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-553-9_15
ID  - Yang2026
ER  -