Differences in Workplace Experiences Between Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Employees in a Representative Population Study

TitleDifferences in Workplace Experiences Between Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Employees in a Representative Population Study
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2014
AuthorsKuyper, Lisette
JournalPsychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity
VolumeDecember 1, 2014
Date Published2014/12/01
Keywordsbias, bisexual, discrimination, gay, lesbian, sexual orientation
Abstract

Various studies using community and convenience samples of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) employees have concluded that LGB employees report relatively high levels of victimization and distress at the workplace and low levels of job satisfaction. It remains unknown, however, whether these findings can be generalized to the broader population of LGB employees due to a lack of representative population samples. The current study aims to address this knowledge gap by using data from a random population sample representative of Dutch employees (N = 9,417). It was hypothesized that LGB employees would report more bullying, more unequal opportunities, less job satisfaction, and more burn-out than heterosexual employees. Results differed for male and female employees and for lesbian/gay and bisexual employees. Lesbian and gay employees did not differ from heterosexual employees in bullying, unequal opportunities, job satisfaction, or burn-out symptoms. Bisexual female employees reported higher levels of bullying, unequal opportunities, and burn-out compared with heterosexual female employees, whereas bisexual men reported higher levels of burn-out than heterosexual men. No relationship was found between job satisfaction and sexual orientation. Even though significant differences between bisexual and heterosexual employees were found, these differences were very small in terms of effect size. Explanations for the (lack of) differences in workplace experiences between LGB and heterosexual employees are discussed, as well as the limitations of the current study and suggestions for future research.