The psychosocial costs of heterosexism to straights: A focus group study

Heterosexism is a social force that affects all people, because heterosexism infuses social institutions and sustains heteronormativity, which dictates social roles for all people regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The field of critical heterosexualities has begun to explore how straight people experience costs from heterosexism and heteronormativity. However, few psychological studies have aimed to examine how straight/heterosexual people are negatively affected by heterosexism. In the present study, we explored lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) and straight ally emerging adults' conceptualization of the psychosocial costs of heterosexism for straight people. We conducted four matched focus groups with LGBTQ+ (n = 13) and straight (n = 10) participants. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we identified three major domains of these psychosocial costs of heterosexism: distorted relationships, heteronormative restraints to self-exploration, and sexual ignorance. Results highlight how heterosexism has harmed straight people's relationships, hindered their identity exploration and expression, and limited straight people's ability to seek and obtain sexual knowledge. Findings yield insight for counseling psychologists' clinical work with straight people, including identity exploration and relationships with LGBTQ+ people. These findings point to potential avenues for advocacy with straight allies, particularly in terms of inter- and intragroup dialogue. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).