Bisexual Women’s Female Friendships: Predictors and Outcomes of Sexual Identity Disclosure

Abstract

This study examined Asian and White bisexual women’s sexual orientation disclosure to their female friends, including the relation of disclosure to racial and sexual identity, individual well-being, and friendship quality. It was hypothesized that Asian bisexual women would be less likely to disclose their sexual minority status to Asian friends and more likely to friends of differing racial/ethnic identities, as well as less likely to monosexual friends. Also, sexual identity disclosure for all participants, regardless of race/ethnicity, was expected to be positively associated with both friendship quality and individual well-being. A sample of 324 bisexual women completed measures focused on their demographic information, personal self-esteem, self-authenticity, satisfaction with life, and perceived social support, as well as their interpersonal level of outness, validation, trust, intimacy, and overall friendship. Results from multilevel models indicated that participant race/ethnicity interacted with friend race/ethnicity and sexual orientation in predicting disclosure: Asian bisexual women’s disclosure level was higher with same-race/ethnicity friends but unrelated to whether the friend was LGQ. In contrast, White bisexual women’s disclosure level was unrelated to similarity of the friend’s race/ethnicity but was lower among friends viewed as LGQ. Disclosure of bisexuality was positively associated with friendship quality at both the within-person and between-person levels, and was positively related to self-esteem, life satisfaction, and perceptions of social support from friends.