Abstract

BDSM (bondage/discipline; Dominance/submission; sadism/masochism) is devalued in society because it absconds from normative heterosexuality and monogamy, resulting in hostile prejudice and discrimination. Like other concealable stigmatized identities, BDSM practitioners self-stigmatize endorsing the same devaluing beliefs as society, thereby eliciting feelings of shame, self-hate, and stress. Using the concealable stigmatized identity (CSI) model, I examined the degree to which internalization of negative stereotypes becomes distressing to the extent that their BDSM identity is considered important to the self. I further explored whether group belongingness to a BDSM community buffers the relationship between stigma and distress. Moderation analyses were performed on a sample of 150 self-identified BDSM practitioners recruited from reddit to examine interactions among self-reported feelings of internalized sexual stigma, level of BDSM identity importance, group belongingness and psychological distress. Results indicated that identity centrality and community belongingness do not significantly moderate the relationship between internalized stigma and psychological distress. Recommendations for future research using similar models are discussed.