Lesbian and gay relationship satisfaction among Italians: Adult attachment, social support, and internalized stigma

We examined adult attachment styles, perceived social support, internalized stigma, and relationship satisfaction in a sample of 305 lesbians (48.2%) and gay men (51.8%), ages 19-72 yrs. (M = 36.4; SD = 11.8), and in a same-sex relationship for at least six months. Participants were recruited via the Internet and completed a web-based survey. We tested the hypothesis that attachment styles, perceived social support and internalized stigma would be correlated with and predicted relationship satisfaction, as well as the hypothesis that perceived social support would be correlated with internalized stigma. Results strongly supported the hypotheses, thus indicating that: attachment styles, perceived support, and internalized stigma were negatively correlated with and predicted relationship satisfaction; and perceived social support was negatively correlated with internalized stigma. Furthermore, results indicated that lesbian participants had lower levels of anxious attachment style, and reported higher levels of relationship satisfaction and lower levels of internalized stigma. Finally, results indicated that: in the lesbian subsample, conservative political orientation and religious beliefs were correlated with higher levels of internalized stigma; participants coming from central Italy reported higher levels of perceived social support; and participants in civil unions reported higher levels of perceived social support and relationship satisfaction, and lower levels of internalized stigma. Implications for counselors and therapists working with LG populations are discussed.