Victimisation and life satisfaction of gay and bisexual individuals in 44 European countries: the moderating role of country-level and person-level attitudes towards homosexuality

We examined the link between victimisation and life satisfaction for 85,301 gay and bisexual individuals across 44 European countries. We expected this negative link to be stronger when the internalised homonegativity of the victim was high (e.g. because the victim is more vulnerable) and weaker when victimisation occurs in countries that express intolerance towards homosexuality (e.g. because in such contexts victims expect victimisation more and they attribute it to their external environment). Additionally, we expected internalised homonegativity to relate negatively to life satisfaction. Multilevel analyses revealed that victimisation (i.e. verbal insults, threats of violence, minor or major physical assaults) and internalised homonegativity were negatively related to life satisfaction. Furthermore, as we expected, the negative link between victimisation and life satisfaction was stronger when high internalised homonegativity was reported (and the interaction effect occurred for verbal insults and major assaults as outcome variables), while it was weaker when there was low national tolerance of homosexuality (and the interaction effect occurred for verbal insults and for minor assaults). Future research and social policy should consider how the consequences of victimisation are dependent on personal as well as national attitudes towards homosexuality.

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