There are also sex differences with respect to the number and forms of stigma-related stress. Sexual minority men experience higher rates of sexual victimization (Balsam et al., 2005) and hate crimes (Herek, 2009) than sexual minority women. Research has also demonstrated sex differences in several of the general psychosocial processes reviewed above. For example, heterosexual women are more likely to ruminate than heterosexual men (Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 1999), suggesting that lesbians might be more vulnerable to this cognitive risk factor than gay men. Future research is needed to understand how sex influences vulnerability both to stigma-related stress and general psychosocial processes, and whether these translate into sex differences in psychopathological outcomes among sexual minorities.
