A systematic review of identity management strategies for religious people who are sexually and gender diverse

Individuals with sexual and gender minority (SGM) identities often have complicated relationships with religion, and there is often a degree of perceived conflict between the religious and SGM identities. This systematic review identifies and synthesises evidence from studies that have explored various identity management strategies that have been adopted to mitigate this conflict. Searches were conducted on 29 March 2024 in PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, PsycEXTRA, CINAHL Complete, LGBTQ+ Source, and Scopus for peer-reviewed articles, grey literature, and dissertations. Included studies were published in English, had a quantitative study design, and reported on the identity management strategies of religious SGMs. The search yielded 26 cross-sectional studies (n = 15,622), with five management strategies being identified; identity conflict (n = 11), rejecting religion (n = 7), rejecting sexuality (n = 3), compartmentalisation (n = 1), and identity integration (n = 17). Importantly, identity integration and rejecting religion were consistently associated with psychosocial benefits, with identity conflict, rejecting sexuality, and compartmentalisation being a risk factor for poorer health. The factors most frequently reported as facilitating protective identity management strategies was to have social support from religious groups. This review found that reconciliation of religious and SGM identities is not only possible, but relatively frequent (and has protective benefits).

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