Lesbian Community Oughts and Ideals

Abstract

Our study investigated the importance of the lesbian community and the perceived fit of personal characteristics and behavior with the norms of this community as predictors of depression and anxiety among Young Sexual Minority Women (YSMW) aged 18–35 years. YSMW ( n = 504) completed an online survey in which they reported their degree of identification with the lesbian community, described their sexual minority selves, and rated how far away these descriptions were from their own standards, as well as perceived lesbian community standards, for the person they ought to be and would ideally like to be. Consistent with self-discrepancy theory, falling short of both self and lesbian community ideal standards uniquely predicted depression whereas discrepancies from both ought standards related to anxiety. Furthermore, the links to lesbian community standards were moderated by identification with the lesbian community such that discrepancies from community ideal and ought standards were more strongly associated with negative affect among YSMW who more strongly identified with the lesbian community. Although based on correlational data, results suggest that YSMW perceive strict norms in lesbian communities that they may find difficult to live up to, and these discrepancies may have powerful consequences for experiences of depression and anxiety. Findings highlight the need for both additional research and therapeutic focus on intragroup sources of stress (e.g., normative pressures in sexual minority communities) in addition to intergroup sources of stress (e.g., heterosexism) in order to better our understanding of mental health experiences among sexual minority women.