IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i14p6381-d1195790.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Romantic Attachment, Relationship Satisfaction, Internalized Sexual Stigma, and Motives for Parenthood in Italian Lesbian Women and Gay Men

Author

Listed:
  • Massimiliano Sommantico

    (Dynamic Psychology Laboratory, Department of Humanities, University of Naples Federico II, Via Porta di Massa 1, 80133 Naples, Italy)

  • Marina Lacatena

    (Dynamic Psychology Laboratory, Department of Humanities, University of Naples Federico II, Via Porta di Massa 1, 80133 Naples, Italy)

  • Ferdinando Ramaglia

    (Dynamic Psychology Laboratory, Department of Humanities, University of Naples Federico II, Via Porta di Massa 1, 80133 Naples, Italy)

Abstract

This study examines romantic attachment, internalized sexual stigma, relationship satisfaction, and motives for parenthood in a sample of 313 Italian lesbian women (47.9%) and gay men (52.1%) aged 18–71 years ( M = 36.2; SD = 11.9) and in same-sex relationships. The following hypotheses were tested: that romantic attachment is positively correlated with internalized stigma and motives to not have children, while it is negatively correlated with relationship satisfaction; that relationship satisfaction is negatively correlated with internalized stigma and motives for parenthood; that internalized stigma is negatively correlated with motives for parenthood; and that relationship satisfaction mediates the relationships between romantic attachment and motives for parenthood and between internalized stigma and motives for parenthood. The results strongly support the hypotheses. Furthermore, the results indicate that the lesbian participants reported lower levels of avoidance and internalized stigma and higher levels of relationship satisfaction and motives to not have children, and the participants in civil unions reported lower levels of anxiety and internalized stigma and higher levels of relationship satisfaction and motives to not have children. Taken together, our findings contribute to the growing body of research on LG parenthood and may inform social policy and psychological support for LG individuals pursuing parenthood.

Suggested Citation

  • Massimiliano Sommantico & Marina Lacatena & Ferdinando Ramaglia, 2023. "Romantic Attachment, Relationship Satisfaction, Internalized Sexual Stigma, and Motives for Parenthood in Italian Lesbian Women and Gay Men," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(14), pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:14:p:6381-:d:1195790
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/14/6381/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/14/6381/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Geva Shenkman, 2023. "The Mediating Role of Insecure Attachment in the Gap in Parenthood Desire between Lesbian and Gay Individuals and Their Heterosexual Counterparts," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-14, February.
    2. Mónica Guzmán-González & Nikolás Bekios & Josefa Burgos & Camila Obregón & Benjamín Tabilo & Giulia Casu, 2022. "Attachment and Dyadic Forgiveness in Individuals in Same-Sex Couple Relationships," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-15, September.
    3. Cristóbal Calvillo & María del Mar Sánchez-Fuentes & Juan Carlos Sierra, 2020. "An Explanatory Model of Sexual Satisfaction in Adults with a Same-Sex Partner: An Analysis Based on Gender Differences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-17, May.
    4. Anna Lisa Amodeo & Concetta Esposito & Vincenzo Bochicchio & Paolo Valerio & Roberto Vitelli & Dario Bacchini & Cristiano Scandurra, 2018. "Parenting Desire and Minority Stress in Lesbians and Gay Men: A Mediation Framework," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-16, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tommaso Trombetta & Maria Noemi Paradiso & Fabrizio Santoniccolo & Luca Rollè, 2024. "The Role of Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance in Predicting Proximal Minority Stressors among Gay and Lesbian People in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(6), pages 1-10, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cristiano Scandurra & Benedetta Muzii & Roberto La Rocca & Francesco Di Bello & Mario Bottone & Gianluigi Califano & Nicola Longo & Nelson Mauro Maldonato & Francesco Mangiapia, 2022. "Social Support Mediates the Relationship between Body Image Distress and Depressive Symptoms in Prostate Cancer Patients," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-10, April.
    2. Franklin Soler & Reina Granados & Ana I. Arcos-Romero & Cristóbal Calvillo & Ana Álvarez-Muelas & María del Mar Sánchez-Fuentes & Nieves Moyano & Juan Carlos Sierra, 2021. "Association between Psychopathological Dimensions and Sexual Functioning/Sexual Arousal in Young Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-16, March.
    3. Ionela Șerban & Marco Salvati & Violeta Enea, 2022. "Sexual Orientation and Infidelity-Related Behaviors on Social Media Sites," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-15, November.
    4. Juan Carlos Sierra & Ana I. Arcos-Romero & Ana Álvarez-Muelas & Oscar Cervilla, 2021. "The Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Sexual Attitudes, Sexual Assertiveness, and Sexual Functioning in Men and Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-13, January.
    5. Juan Carlos Sierra & Jennifer Gómez-Carranza & Ana Álvarez-Muelas & Oscar Cervilla, 2021. "Association of Sexual Attitudes with Sexual Function: General vs. Specific Attitudes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-12, October.
    6. Pablo Mangas & Reina Granados & Oscar Cervilla & Juan Carlos Sierra, 2022. "Validation of the Orgasm Rating Scale in Context of Sexual Relationships of Gay and Lesbian Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-14, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:14:p:6381-:d:1195790. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.