Perceived Social Support and Coping Strategies among Heterosexual and Homosexual Individuals in Kerala: A Comparative Study

The study compared the perceived social support and coping strategies among heterosexual and homosexual individuals. The multidimensionality of perceived social support and coping mechanisms based on the model by Cohen and Lazarus (1979) was taken into account while conducting the study. A mixed method through snowball sampling in the field was adopted for a descriptive quantitative study, along with a supplementary qualitative study.  The former was carried out using Google e-forms of Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet, 1998) and Coping Strategy Inventory (Tobin, 2001), and telephone and face to face interviews. The latter was conducted by collecting newspaper and media statistics (secondary data) and conversations on the phone and various social windows. The study was conducted on 10 heterosexual men, 10 homosexual men, 10 heterosexual women and 10 homosexual women from Kerala. The study reveals that there appears to be an exceeding low threshold of statistical significance of perceived social support among homosexual individuals when compared to heterosexual individuals. It also reveals the pattern of coping strategy employed by homosexual and heterosexual individuals with a potential significance in the social aspects of coping strategies. This study one of its kind and would aid in understanding the plight of homosexual individuals and break the taboo and uncertainty that revolves in this heteronormative society. It could also serve as a model of advocacy for the sexual minority in Kerala. The various inferences made could be used in developing an integrated model of social support and non support and to have a closure of youths’ experiences to structure effective awareness for prevention and intervention efforts by altering the bias of attribution to understand others.