Homo v Straight
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Same Sex
Are same-sex relationships stable than heterosexual-sex relationships? And are changes in legislation and cultural attitudes towards same-sex relationships affecting their stability? Today, same sex minorities they can get married and enjoy the life heterosexuals have. They have the same rights in employment the same privileges as the rest of the world.
But are those relationships as steady as the straight marriage. We know even those they have the divorces but are gay men capable of having a stable relationship? We also know the testosterone inside the man plays a big role and when it comes to sex often the heart knows the right way but the heart down the pants loses direction and that’s where the trouble begun.
Americans and the rest of the world, attitudes towards same-sex relationships are more supportive than they’ve ever been. Approval of same-sex relationships has been steadily rising since 2009, and the 2015 Supreme Court decision endorsing same-sex marriage was a win for many lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals. With these social and legal advances, new attention to the stability of same-sex relationships is warranted
Researchers at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) analysed data collected through the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Joyner, Manning, & Bogle, 2017). Their sample of more than 14,000 individuals included three distinct types of couples—different-sex couples, female same-sex couples, and male same-sex couples.
Conceptualizing stability in terms of dissolution rates and duration of a relationship, the researchers asked: How stable are the relationships for different couple types? And, further, is stability affected by co-residency versus living separately?
What is Next
The study found no evidence of an increase in cohabitation by unmarried different-sex couples, and some evidence of a statistically significant decline, consistent with increased interest in marriage. Similarly, researchers found no consistent evidence of an increase in divorce because of legalizing marriage for same-sex couples.
Researchers also analysed information from an annual survey of high school seniors that asks them a series of questions about their attitudes toward marriage and family formation. While the changes in attitudes were small, researchers suggest that issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples had, if anything, led to a small positive impact on marriage attitudes among high school seniors.
“The only changes we detect are suggestive of a renewed salience of marriage among the broader public,” Zaber said. “There is no empirical basis for concerns that allowing same-sex couples to marry has negatively affected different-sex couples and families.”
Revisiting past trends
Previous research has shown that cohabiting same-sex romantic couples dissolve their relationships at higher rates than different-sex cohabiting or married couples. These differences in stability are believed to arise from differences in relationship rewards, alternatives, or barriers (Lau, 2012).
One such barrier is captured in the label “minority stress,” which refers to stressors unique to a minority group, such as LGB individuals (Meyer, 2003). Micro-aggressions, violence, discrimination, harassment, and lack of approval from friends and family are all forms of minority stress that can adversely affect relationship stability.
The gaps in the stability of same-sex and different-sex relationships are diminishing. Still, if you thought all relationships would show the same stability today, given the current legal and cultural climate, that is not the case: Overall, same-sex couples reported shorter relationship lengths than different-sex couples (Joyner et al., 2017). And male same-sex couples experienced significantly higher rates of dissolution than female couples or different-sex couples.
This is consistent with previous findings: Gay and bisexual men are exposed to minority stressors that can de-stabilize relationships (Meyer, 2003; Lau, 2012). Where these men differ from women in female couples is in their engagement with protective factors: Many men do not emphasize emotional intimacy and minimization of boundaries to the extent that women do (Umberson, Thomeer, Kroeger, Lodge, & Xu, 2015).
Stable Relationships
For LGBT individuals and same-sex couples, research has found that the “marriage benefit” that has been well documented in different-sex couples extends to same-sex couples as well. This includes lower psychological distress as compared to same-sex couples with other forms of legal status or no legal status.
The physical health of LGBT individuals in states that approved marriage between same-sex couples also improved, as demonstrated by higher levels of health insurance coverage, and declining rates of sexually transmitted infections, and problematic substance use.
When states legalized marriage for same-sex couples, same-sex households in those states experienced more stable relationships, higher earnings, and higher rates of home ownership.
To address limitations in earlier studies, researchers from RAND and UCLA examined multiple national data sets to study how changes in the legal status of same-sex marriages across and within states affected trends in family formation between 2000 through 2014.
This included the causal effects of state-level policy changes on different-sex couples’ marriage rates, divorce rates, and cohabitation rates.
What about legal marriage?
Joyner and colleagues (2017) also uncovered several demographic correlates of relationship stability. These include race—African American respondents report less stability in relationships than white respondents—and heterogamy (differences in race and age between partners are associated with higher levels of dissolution).
Additionally, higher socioeconomic status and a greater number of prior sexual partners are both associated with a higher hazard of dissolution. Some of these correlates may be explained by intersectionality, the theory that inhabiting multiple minority identities (e.g., lesbian, female, and black) can result in a unique set of disadvantages and stressors (Crenshaw, 1991).
Despite persisting differences in stability linked to minority stress, Joyner and colleagues (2017) note that same-sex relationship stability is less different from heterosexual relationships than in years past. This may reflect the more favourable cultural attitudes toward same-sex couples. As the U.S. continues to progress in legislation that protects all couples regardless of sexual orientation, we would expect these differences to diminish even further. The end goal is not that all relationships operate the same way, but rather that patterns of stability reflect differences that are not tied to prejudice and discrimination
Over the 20 years that same-sex couples have been able to marry in the United States, there have been no negative effects on marriage, divorce, or cohabitation among different-sex couples, according to new report from RAND and UCLA.
In addition, the few significant effects observed by new analyses of the issue suggest a slight increase in overall marriage rates and provide some evidence of improved attitudes toward marriage among young people in states after same-sex couples were granted legal status.
Researchers also reviewed nearly 100 studies that have examined the consequences of same-sex marriage on multiple measures of family formation and well-being, and found consistent results indicating significant benefits to same-sex couples and no harm to different-sex unions.
“Some of those who opposed the granting of marriage rights to same-sex couples predicted that doing so would undermine the institution of marriage, resulting in fewer couples marrying, more couples divorcing, and an overall retreat from family formation,” said study coauthor Benjamin R. Karney, a UCLA psychology professor and adjunct researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. “Overall, the fears of opponents of same-sex marriage simply have not come to pass.”
The study found that after states legalized marriage for same-sex couples, the number of marriages increased in those states at rates greater than what could be accounted for by the new marriages of same-sex couples alone
Does living together help?
When partners move in together, or co-reside, their dissolution rates change (Joyner et al., 2017). Male and female same-sex couples still end their relationships more often than different-sex couples. However, both male and different-sex couples end their relationships at lower rates while co-residing than when they are dating but not living together. When considering living together, men may select partners with stabilizing characteristics. It is unclear why dissolution rates do not decrease for women in same-sex relationships who choose to co-reside
Marriage contributes to relationship stability through enforceable trust and relationship-specific investments (Cherlin, 2004). Access to legal marriage, which has only been available to same-sex couples in the U.S. in recent years, will likely affect same-sex relationship stability. Indeed, despite the minority stress experienced by LGB individuals, Joyner and colleagues (2017) discovered that same-sex married couples are at least as stable as, if not more stable than, different-sex married couples
It is Stable
“We find no evidence for a retreat from marriage,” said Melanie A. Zaber, coauthor of the report and a RAND economist. “In fact, there is evidence suggesting that by extending marriage rights to a greater number of couples, interest in marriage increased. And that finding isn’t limited to same-sex couples—this is also true for the broader population.”
The first state-sanctioned marriage licenses for same-sex couples were issued in May 2004 in Massachusetts after its supreme court held that the state’s constitution guaranteed same-sex couples the right to marry.
Over the next 11 years, same-sex marriages were sanctioned in several other states before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2015 that state-level bans on marriage for same-sex couples violate the federal constitution, extending the right to marry to same-sex couples nationwide. Surveys now find about 70 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage.
Researchers from RAND and UCLA reviewed existing research that has examined how any form of legal status, including marriage and civil unions, affects the well-being of LGBT individuals, their children, and the general public.
Across 96 studies reviewed by the project, researchers found that extending marriage and other forms of legal recognition to same-sex couples has been consistently positive for same-sex couples and LGBT individuals, their children, and the general population.
