Gay men show altered psychobiological stress responses and exhibit a higher prevalence of mental disorders than their heterosexual counterparts. Both of these findings are likely due to gay-specific discrimination. Since it has not yet been determined whether gay-specific stress is more noxious than general stress, we tested whether gay men react more strongly to gay-specific socially stressful stimuli than to general socially stressful stimuli. N = 33 self-identified gay men (mean = 26.12 years of age, SD = 5.89), 63.6% of whom were in a relationship with a man, participated in an experimental within-group study, in which they were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) as well as a gay-specific TSST in a randomized order. Salivary cortisol and testosterone were assessed at five time points during the laboratory tests and perceived stress was assessed at four time points. According to psychobiological and perceived stress indices, the participants reacted similarly to a gay-specific and general social stressor. There were no significant differences in the outcomes, either when looking at pre–post-test differences or when comparing the overall stress responses. Given that the response to a gay-specific social stressor was equally pronounced as the one to a general social stressor, programs aiming to decrease minority stress but overlooking general stress are likely to yield only partial improvements in gay men’s mental health. Instead, we suggest helping gay men cope with both forms of stress through building social support, assertiveness, and mindfulness skills, as well as decreasing emotional dysregulation.

男同性恋者表现出改变的心理生物学压力反应，并且比异性恋者表现出更高的精神障碍患病率。这两项发现都可能是由于针对同性恋的歧视。由于尚未确定同性恋特定压力是否比一般压力更有害，因此我们测试了男同性恋者对特定于同性恋的社会压力刺激的反应是否比对一般社会压力刺激的反应更强烈。ñ = 33 名自我认同的男同性恋者（平均 = 26.12 岁，SD = 5.89），其中 63.6% 与男性有过恋爱关系，他们参加了一项实验性的组内研究，其中他们接触了 Trier Social压力测试 (TSST) 以及随机顺序的同性恋特定 TSST。在实验室测试期间，在五个时间点评估唾液皮质醇和睾酮，并在四个时间点评估感知压力。根据心理生物学和感知压力指数，参与者对同性恋特定和一般社会压力源的反应相似。无论是在查看测试前后的差异还是比较整体压力反应时，结果都没有显着差异。鉴于对同性恋特定社会压力源的反应与对一般社会压力源的反应同样明显，旨在减少少数群体压力但忽略一般压力的计划可能只会对男同性恋者的心理健康产生部分改善。相反，我们建议通过建立社会支持、自信和正念技能以及减少情绪失调来帮助男同性恋者应对这两种形式的压力。