Internalized Binegativity and Alcohol Expectancies Following an Experience of Binegativity: An Experimental Study

Bisexual individuals consistently report higher levels of alcohol use and are at greater risk for developing alcohol use disorder compared with heterosexual, gay, or lesbian individuals. According to the Minority Stress Model, this disparity may be attributed to bisexual-specific stressors such as experienced binegativity--discrimination or prejudice targeting bisexual identity--and internalized binegativity, or the internal adoption of such stigma.

The current study tested whether an acute experience of binegativity would influence internalized binegativity and alcohol-related cognitions. We hypothesized that bisexual individuals exposed to a binegative event would (1) report higher internalized binegativity and (2) demonstrate more positive, salient alcohol expectancies compared with a control group. Participants (N = 60) were adults ages 21-35 who explicitly self-identified as bisexual. Participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental condition involving a face-to-face binegative comment delivered by a confederate interviewer, or a control condition with no discriminatory statement. Participants then completed post-manipulation measures of internalized binegativity and a free-association alcohol expectancy task, which asked them to generate and rate anticipated effects of drinking.

Results showed that participants in the experimental condition endorsed more positive and emotionally salient alcohol expectancies than those in the control group (p = .039), although no differences were observed in internalized binegativity (p > .50).

These findings suggest that even brief discriminatory experiences may influence alcohol-related cognitions among bisexual individuals. This study also introduces a novel experimental method for modeling the proximal psychological effects of binegativity, with implications for minority stress research and substance use interventions.