ABSTRACT
Asexual individuals often face negative attitudes and stereotypes. Consequently, they may hold negative meta-stereotypes: beliefs about negative stereotypes that outgroup members hold about them due to their asexuality. Two preregistered studies with international samples of asexual individuals test the relationships between meta-stereotypes, ingroup identification (with the asexual and the LGBTQ+ communities), well-being, and self-acceptance of sexuality (SAS) within the Rejection-Identification Model. Study 1 (N = 412) investigated cross-sectional associations between variables, while Study 2 (N = 293) examined the causal effects of meta-stereotypes using an experimental design. Both studies found that negative meta-stereotypes increased ingroup identification. Study 1 found that negative meta-stereotypes were associated with lower well-being and SAS, but indirectly with higher well-being and SAS through increased identification with the asexual community. Study 2 found no direct effect of negative meta-stereotypes on well-being and SAS. However, replicating Study 1, there was an indirect positive effect on SAS and well-being through identification with the asexual community. These results were not found for the identification with the broader LGBTQ+ community in either study. Together this suggests that SAS and well-being relate to how asexual individuals believe they are perceived by non-LGBTQ+ people as well as their identification with the asexual community.