Gay men report more anxiety and more emotional distance in their relationships than straight men, according to a new study in BMC Psychology. Their dating histories look much the same. What sets them apart is whether they believe the relationship has a future.
By Marvin Valdez
Psychologists Fan Yang of Waseda University in Tokyo and Zichen Zhai of Nagoya University surveyed 603 men aged 20 to 29 in Shanghai, China. Of those, 303 were gay and 300 were straight. The study was published on 16 September. The researchers locked in their analysis plan before collecting any data.
What “Insecurely Attached” Means
Attachment is measured on two scales. Attachment anxiety is the fear of being left, or the nagging doubt about how a partner really feels. Attachment avoidance is the urge to keep some distance and not lean on a partner too much.
The gay men scored higher on both. Yet the two groups had a similar number of past relationships, and their shortest relationships lasted about as long. The difference held even after the researchers accounted for income and job status.
So What’s Going On?
The straight men felt more confident that their relationships would last. Once the researchers factored in that sense of stability, the gap between gay and straight men disappeared completely.
“The feeling that ‘this relationship has a future’ may be an important part of romantic security,” Yang said in a statement from Waseda University.
The setting matters. China does not legally recognise same-sex couples but has no explicit laws against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Gay men there also face strong family pressure to marry and have children.
The authors suggest legal recognition and anti-discrimination protections may be relevant to how stable gay men feel. Yang said support services should look beyond how partners communicate and also consider “whether the relationship can be accepted, supported, and maintained over time.”
Does It Apply Everywhere?
Not necessarily. Every participant was a young man from one city, and the study did not look at countries with marriage equality, such as Australia or Canada. Whether legal security changes how gay men attach to their partners is a question for future research.
Source: https://www.dnamagazine.com.au/gay-men-attachment-relationship-stability-study/
