Religious Commitment, Shame, Guilt, and Social Interaction Anxiety among Pakistani Gays and Bisexual Men

Abstract

Homosexuality is considered as a taboo in Pakistan; thus, systematic investigations of psychosocial problems of homosexuals are very rare. The present research was undertaken to explore religious commitment, shame, guilt, and social interaction anxiety among Pakistani gays and bi-sexual men. Specifically, the study hypothesized a) a positive relationship between religious commitment, shame, guilt, and social interaction anxiety, b) impact of religious commitment and shame on guilt and social interaction anxiety, and c) group differences between gay and bi-sexual men on study variables. The participants comprised of 65 gay and 50 bisexual men with an age ranging from 16 to 35 years. Result obtained from the participants supports the LGBT identity. Correlation analysis of overall result explains that religious commitment is significantly correlated with social interaction anxiety and guilt. Moreover, shame is also correlated with social interaction anxiety and guilt. Linear regression analysis of overall result demonstrated religious commitment and shame as significant predictors of social interaction anxiety and guilt. Limitations, suggestion and implications of current study for further empirical endeavors have also been discussed.