Testing the Cross-Cultural Robustness of the Minority Stress Model in Gay and Bisexual Men

The study tests the cross-cultural robustness of the minority stress model using a most different systems approach. Data from Western European, Eastern European (including Russian), Indian, Philippine, and Thai gay and bisexual men was obtained online. The final sample consisted of N = 90,467 participants who reported their level of satisfaction with life, victimization, felt stigma, and internalized homonegativity, as well as their disclosure status and sociodemographic details. Stepwise linear regressions were conducted on reported levels of satisfaction with life. Higher levels of victimization, felt stigma, and internalized homonegativity predicted lower satisfaction with life in all groups. Disclosure was associated with higher satisfaction with life in Western Europe as well as the Philippines and Thailand. Minority stressors explained far more variance in participants' satisfaction with life (13% to 24%) than sociodemographics alone (1% to 3%). The findings suggest that the minority stress theory is a useful cross-cultural explanatory model for satisfaction with life.