The Relationships Among Gender, Bipositive Events, and Psychological Outcomes

Abstract

Researchers have paid little attention to the possibility that interpersonal bipositive experiences, also known as bisexual microaffirmations, may have positive effects on psychological outcomes. In addition, no study to date has examined whether these experiences vary by gender. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore connections between different types of bipositive events, positive identity, proximal stressors, and mental health outcomes, with special attention paid to the role of gender as a moderating variable. Two-hundred forty-two participants completed a series of surveys over four weeks, examining experiences of bipositive events, internalized binegativity, sexual identity uncertainty, preoccupation with others’ thoughts, bisexual identity affirmation, identity certainty and centrality, anxiety, and depression. Data were analyzed using ANOVAs, multilevel modeling, and mediation analyses. Results emphasize that, while frequency of bipositive events may not differ by gender, the effect these bipositive events have on different internalized variables does. Bipositive events seem to have the most effects for bisexual women but can cause increased preoccupation and anxiety for men and non-binary people. Thus, more research is needed on the interactions between gender, bipositive events, proximal stressors, and positive identity. This study lends to the growing literature on the importance of considering bipositive events as a potential target of interventions aimed at bettering mental health in bisexual populations.