Date of Graduation
1997
Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
This was a qualitative study designed to explore how women at various stages of lesbian identity development manage and make decisions about managing their identities. Management of identity was explored in terms of how women came out or stayed hidden and how they made decisions to both disclose and conceal. It used Cass' (1979) Stage Allocation Measure, based on her model of homosexual identity development, as a means to categorize women at various stages of lesbian identity development. Twenty-five adult women were individually interviewed, using a semi-structured interview schedule. In addition, participants agreed to maintain a journal for one month recording their management and decision-making strategies and to an exit interview. Qualitative analyses utilizing recommendations by Hycner (1985) were employed. The major findings indicated that women at different stages of lesbian identity development use disparate and similar identity management and decision-making strategies. Participants discussed an assortment of strategies used to conceal and disclose which varied among the stages and which extended Cass' model in terms of depth and scope around the intrapsychic and interpersonal experiences of women at various lesbian identity development stages. Underlying and connecting lesbian identity management and development was the need to maintain self-esteem. Implications for practice, training, and future research were addressed.
Recommended Citation
Whitman, Joy Sharon, "Identity management and decision-making strategies of lesbian women at various stages of identity development: An ethnographic study." (1997). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 10007.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/10007