Dispositional Mindfulness in Heterosexual and Lesbian/Bisexual Women: Associations with Sexual Prejudice and Internalized Sexual Stigma

This research investigated the effect of dispositional mindfulness on the reduction of sexual prejudice and internalized sexual stigma in heterosexual and lesbian/bisexual women, who still represent a population that is under-represented in the scientific literature. Participants were 203 Italian women, both heterosexual (N = 104, 51.2%) and lesbian/bisexual (N= 99, 48.8%), ranging between 18 and 68 years old. They responded to a questionnaire containing demographic information and measures of dispositional mindfulness, need for cognitive closure, and adherence to traditional gender roles. Dominance analyses were run to test the predictive power of mindfulness’ dimensions on internalized sexual stigma and on sexual prejudice over and above the other predictors. Results showed that having a mindful nonjudging attitude toward one’s inner experience is associated with less internalized sexual stigma in lesbian and bisexual women. On the contrary, dispositional mindfulness was not associated with heterosexual women’s sexual prejudice against gay and lesbian individuals.