Middle-aged and old-aged homosexual men in digital media: self-description, social support and quality of life

Abstract

This study aims to identify and analyze the indicators of quality of life and social support, as well as the profile descriptors used by middle-aged men who seek and/or are interested in same-sex relationships on digital platforms. The methodological design was quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional. The data have been collected through a socio-demographic questionnaire, the WHOQOL-bref and the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Social Support Scale, and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences® (SPSS). The results confirmed that the most prevalent descriptors were those that sought to get rid of notions that could associate maturity and old age with disability and frailty, in addition to strengthening positive and sexualized hegemonic representations of masculinity. In relation to the total scores of social support and quality of life, these showed a directly proportional, significant and moderate correlation (rho=0.609, p<0.001).

Keywords:
homosexuality; aging; quality of life; social support; digital media