Internalized Heterosexism, Social Support, and Career Development in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Undergraduate and Graduate Students: An Application of Social Cognitive Career Theory

Using a the framework of Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994), we examined the relationships between one potential career-related barrier, internalized heterosexism (IH), and social support on career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE) and vocational outcome expectations in lesbian, gay, and bisexual undergraduate and graduate students. Specifically, we predicted that internalized heterosexism would be negatively related to CDMSE and vocational outcome expectations, and that social support would serve as a buffer that moderates these relationships. Results indicated that IH and social support were both unique predictors of outcome expectations. There was also a significant interaction effect between IH and social support in relation to vocational outcome expectations, such that for those with lower levels of social support, there was a significant, positive relationship between IH and outcome expectations, whereas for those with higher levels of social support, there was no significant relationship between IH and outcome expectations. Social support was also significantly related to CDMSE, but neither IH, nor the interaction of social support and IH were significantly related to CDMSE. The implications are discussed within the context of the bottleneck hypothesis and competing psychological demands (e.g., Hetherington, 1991).