Associations Between Internalized Heterosexism, Verbal Intimacy, and Affectionate Touch Provision Among Sexual Minority Couples

Internalized heterosexism has been linked to poor relationship outcomes among sexual minority individuals. However, there is a dearth of research examining how internalized heterosexism is associated with intimate behaviors, such as verbal intimacy and affectionate touch. Furthermore, there are no studies that utilize behavioral observation to examine these associations in contexts expected to pull for intimate behaviors, such as a positive relationship discussion. Using a multimethod approach, we investigated associations between self-reported internalized heterosexism and observed intimate behaviors during a positive relationship discussion using data of 72 sexual minority couples. We hypothesized that internalized heterosexism would be related to lower engagement in intimate behaviors. Bivariate intraclass correlations confirmed that internalized heterosexism was negatively associated with couple-level verbal intimacy and individual-level affectionate touch provision. Results of multiple linear regression indicated that internalized heterosexism accounted for a significant portion of variance in verbal intimacy displayed by couples. In addition, we found a statistically significant actor effect of internalized heterosexism on affectionate touch provision using an actor-partner interdependence model. Specifically, participants with higher internalized heterosexism provided their partner with less affectionate touch than those with lower internalized heterosexism. Our findings suggest that clinicians working with sexual minority couples presenting with intimacy-related problems should consider assessing internalized heterosexism to better inform case conceptualization and treatment planning.