Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

College of Education and Human Services

Department

Counseling, Rehabilitation Counseling & Counseling Psychology

Committee Chair

Monica Leppma

Committee Co-Chair

Dennis Allen

Committee Member

James W. Bartee

Committee Member

Jeffrey Daniels

Committee Member

Jennifer Taylor

Abstract

Although researchers and theorists have long moved away from public disclosure of sexual minority identity (i.e. coming out) as the theoretical apex of lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) identity development, it is still considered an important process of overall identity integration. Unfortunately public disclosure of sexual minority identity may be dependent upon the social environment in which disclosure occurs. Given the variable nature of social contexts, public disclosure across domains of social functioning may be problematic. Previous research has suggested that disclosure is in part more or less likely to occur based on individual appraisal of discriminative experiences (Meyer, 2013). The purpose of the present study was to extend this research by establishing a moderating effect of resilience that may help buffer against the experience of discrimination in predicting identity integration. Respondents ( n = 250) completed an online survey examining areas of outness, resilience, effect and frequency of perceived discrimination (EPD and FPD), and LGB identity status. Hierarchical regression results indicated that while resilience does not moderate EPD and FPD in predicting degree of outness, along with FPD it does independently predict outness. Additionally, post hoc regression analyses suggested variable predictive ability depending on demographic variables. Implications, limitations and future directions for these findings are discussed.

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