A Theoretical Model for Predicting the Derivation of Sexual Satisfaction in Gay Men

This study tests a theoretical model of sexual satisfaction in gay men that incorporates self and self-with-other schemata, identity processes, and sexual communication behaviors. Structural equation modeling based on cross-sectional correlational survey data from 199 gay men in the United Kingdom and Germany examined associations between the self-schema of internalized homonegativity, the self-with-other schema of anxious attachment style, identity resilience, sexual communication behaviors, and sexual satisfaction. The results showed a direct effect of internalized homonegativity, but not of anxious attachment style, on sexual satisfaction. Both internalized homonegativity and anxious attachment style had indirect effects through identity resilience and sexual communication behaviors. Therapeutic interventions to enhance sexual satisfaction in gay men should focus on the identification and management of internalized homonegativity (a self-schema) and anxious attachment style (a self-with-other schema) while also supporting the development of identity resilience and sexual communication skills.