Identity resilience, attachment style and life satisfaction in heterosexual and gay men: The mediating effect of body image concerns

There is limited insight into the social psychological underpinnings of life satisfaction in heterosexual and gay men. This study examines the roles of sexual orientation, identity resilience, attachment style and body image concerns. Cross-sectional correlational survey data from 427 men in the United Kingdom and Germany, analysed using structural equation modelling, showed that the trait variables of identity resilience and anxious attachment style had direct effects on life satisfaction and indirect effects through the mediation of body image concerns. Sexual orientation had only an indirect effect on life satisfaction through the mediation of body image concerns. Higher identity resilience may operate as a protective factor against, and anxious attachment style as a risk factor for, body image concerns which in turn are associated with life satisfaction. Gay men may be at higher risk of decreased life satisfaction through their higher likelihood of experiencing body image concerns. Psychotherapeutic interventions that support the development of identity resilience while addressing insecure attachment may prevent body image concerns, thereby enhancing life satisfaction.