Are Datg Apps Makg Gay Men Miserable? | Psychology Today

Contents:

• GAY DATG APPS CHA: DO THEY ALLEVIATE OR EXACERBATE LONELS? THE SERIAL MEDIATN EFFECT OF PERCEIVED AND INTERNALIZED SEXUALY STIGMA
• ARE DATG APPS MAKG GAY MEN MISERABLE?
• PRSURE TO KEEP UP: STAT IMBALANCE A MAJOR FACTOR STRS GAY MEN
• WISNS MIDDLE SCHOOL FEATUR 'THIS BOOK IS GAY' LIBRARY, STIRRG ONLE OUTRAGE
• IS FEMMEPHOBIA GAY CULTURE CONTRIBUTG TO LONELS?
• INTERPERSONAL SENSIVY AND LONELS AMONG CHE GAY MEN: A CROSS-SECTNAL SURVEY
• HOW TO COPE WHEN YOU'RE GAY AND LONELY

GAY DATG APPS CHA: DO THEY ALLEVIATE OR EXACERBATE LONELS? THE SERIAL MEDIATN EFFECT OF PERCEIVED AND INTERNALIZED SEXUALY STIGMA

The associatn between gay datg app age tensy and lonels is sequentially mediated by perceived sexualy stigma and ternalized sexualy stigma.

That is, creased tensy of gay datg app age strengthens perceived sexualy stigma, which turn rerc ternalized sexualy stigma, further exacerbatg lonels. This study echo the "alone together" phenomena and unvers the feasibily of g stigma perceptns as a mechanism to unrstand the mental health of gay datg app ers.

Associatns among Perceived Sexual Stigma om Fay and Peers, Internalized Homonegativy, Lonels, Deprsn, and Anxiety among Gay and Bisexual Men Taiwan. Trma symptoms, ternalized stigma, social support, and sexual risk behavr among HIV-posive gay and bisexual MSM who have sought sex partners onle. A new study of gay men’s e of datg apps rais qutns about whether the technology tend to make our (love) liv easier may be gettg the way of happs.

ARE DATG APPS MAKG GAY MEN MISERABLE?

1 The rearchers were terted better unrstandg the nflictg rearch to date that pots to both the posive and negative nsequenc of g gay datg apps, such as Grdr. Consequently, rearchers have begun examg how an dividual’s specific goals and reasons for g gay datg apps may play a ccial role termg whether the e of gay datg apps has posive or negative nsequenc for their overall wellbeg.

Participants pleted an onle qutnnaire which they answered qutns about their sense of belongg wh the LGBT muny, their self-teem, lonels, life satisfactn, and their overall equency and tensy of g var gay datg apps. For example, they were asked how often they logged to gay datg apps and their primary motivatn for dog so, om which they uld select the followg optns: to make new iends, to meet people to have sex wh, to fd someone to date, to kill time, or to nnect wh the gay muny. When lookg at all the participants the sample together, the equency wh which men logged onto the gay datg apps was associated wh greater lonels, rced life satisfactn, and a rced sense of nnectn to the LGBT muny.

However, given the varied reasons for g gay datg apps, the rearchers wanted to see if the associatns were the same for dividuals who wanted to e the apps primarily to fd sexual partners pared to those g the apps for other reasons. Men the study reportg that they e gay datg apps primarily to fd sexual partners reported higher levels of self-teem and life satisfactn, as well as lower levels of lonels when pared to men who dited their primary e for gay datg apps was any of the other reasons unrelated to seekg a sexual partner (e. Th, the qutn of whether g gay datg apps has negative or posive associatns wh the well-beg of their ers really appears to pend on the ers’ goals and motivatns for g the apps the first place.

PRSURE TO KEEP UP: STAT IMBALANCE A MAJOR FACTOR STRS GAY MEN

On the other hand, men seekg relatnships, iendships, or muny may not be bt served through such apps and therefore may experience tratn upon g gay datg apps, which may ntribute to rced well-beg.

WISNS MIDDLE SCHOOL FEATUR 'THIS BOOK IS GAY' LIBRARY, STIRRG ONLE OUTRAGE

There’s nothg wrong wh the gay datg apps so far as they provi the service that they are most often ed for: nnectg dividuals lookg for sexual enunters. However, this study also pots to a need for more apps to enter the market targeted at gay men who are seekg other typ of relatnships, cludg iendships, long term romantic partners, and muny buildg.

Buildg apps and platforms specifilly for this purpose may create a more balanced experience for gay and bisexual men seekg different typ of relatnships. 1 The study did not e terms like gay/straight/bisexual, but rather asked men about their attractns and clud male participants who were eher sexually attracted to men only (90. However, I am highlightg this fact bee I know is easier to make change when we acknowledge paful 's start by reviewg some of the rearch on gay people.

Amic journals n be credibly borg so let me give you the brief highlights:Rearch shows: Gay men have fewer close iends than straight people or gay women. Like, for example, when we are 10 or 11 years old and velop a csh on our male gym you fally do e out as an adult and fd other gay men, you may notice that that the gay bar scene or the gay datg app experience isn't always so warm, iendly, and acceptg. That's a further recipe for lonels and men do not show up at my office sayg "I feel bad about myself bee I have been margalized as gay person growg up my fay and muny.

IS FEMMEPHOBIA GAY CULTURE CONTRIBUTG TO LONELS?

Validatg this fairly universal experience of growg up gay is an important first step the healg Path om LonelsSo what do we do about gay adult lonels? There's a lot we n 's the very bt tip to overe gay lonels once you ci you are ready to tackle this challenge:I want to ask you to jo a gay group that meets once per week. BLUM, MFT, is a licensed psychotherapist and the founr of the Gay Therapy Center, which specializ relatnship and self-teem issu for LGBTQ people.

The persistence of mental health hardships among gay and bisexual men, which endure even as LGBTQ people ga greater acceptance and civil rights, n be explaed at least part by the rrosive effects of stat nscns, petivens and racism wh the gay muny are the strikg and potentially ntroversial fdgs of a study published January the Journal of Personaly and Social Psychology that may broan appreciatn of the unique strsors faced by gay and bisexual and lbian people have a more than fourfold higher rate of suici than the general populatn.

INTERPERSONAL SENSIVY AND LONELS AMONG CHE GAY MEN: A CROSS-SECTNAL SURVEY

Photograph: Chris CassidyIn 2017, the journalist Michael Hobb bucked this trend a ep dive for HuffPost to what he lled an epimic of gay lonels. The article’s populary among gay and bisexual men was a ttament to a hunger for narrativ that validate persistent feelgs of unease about gay culture. Pachankis’s paper reprents the field of psychology tchg up wh somethg that to many has long been pafully self-evint: gay men n be awfully hard on each other.

Pachankis’s study is the most rigoro five-year study is based on five psychologil studi, cludg four meticuloly signed experiments wh ne horts of gay and bisexual men. Pachankis and his lleagu found that the strs gay and bisexual men reported experiencg related to their muny’s preoccupatn wh sex, stat and petn, as well as racism wh their ranks, was associated wh promised mental health, pecially for those lower on the gay-stat totem nnectns held even when the vtigators ntrolled for tradnal factors tied to the strs of beg a stigmatized sexual mory as well as general life study culmated wh a seri of experiments which gay and bisexual men participated a chat room wh other men.

HOW TO COPE WHEN YOU'RE GAY AND LONELY

When the participants experienced rejectn om gay or bisexual men they perceived to be of superr stat, bee of a higher level of masculy, attractivens and e, this proved particularly a stat imbalance did not tensify feelgs of rejectn if the higher-stat man was straight.