Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2004, Higher Education

The purpose of this study was to explore the lives of gay students after they had come out in college, because most of the current research stops at the initial coming out experience. Specifically, this study sought to understand how gay students construct their sexual identity and how interactions influence the continuing construction of their sexual identity. D'Augelli's model of lesbian-gay-bisexual identity severed as the theoretical foundation for the study. The study employed a qualitative design. Data were collected through open-ended interviews with six gay college students, ages 19-22. Three themes emerged from a cross-case comparative data analysis: (a) continuous and distinct coming-out decisions, (b) expectations versus the reality of coming-out, and (c) integration of sexual identity into overall identity. Coming-out is not a one-time occurrence, but instead a dynamic process that has been, and continues to be, influenced by the variety of experiences. All participants arrived at college with certain preconceptions of college life. Coming-out introduced the participants to many new experiences and led participants to develop new expectations of college. Throughout their coming-out process, all participants began to integrate their gay identity into their overall identity; integration each participant attained varied. Results of this study led to four conclusions: (a) a person's cornerstone, an individual or group from whom affirmation was most desired, seems to have the most profound impact on continued identity development; (b) the size and culture of some colleges create additional identity challenges; (c) positive exposure to gay individuals and culture while growing up may impact the timing of a person's coming-out, and the speed and depth for identity integration; and (d) a seventh process may need to be added to D'Augelli's model. Results of this study have important implications for policy and practice. This study showed there is a strong need fo (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Penny Poplin Gosetti (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Higher

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2008, Counseling Psychology

The present study investigated associations among African American and same sex attracted identity developmental components, psychological well-being, difficult sexual situations, and sexual risk practices among a sample (N = 73) of HIV-positive African American men who have sex with men (MSMs). The current study responds to Mays, Cochran, and Zamudio's (2004) call for empirical investigations of culturally specific determinants impacting psychological health and sexual risk behaviors among African American MSMs. The current study parallels the methodology of Diaz, Ayala, and Bein (2004) and Diaz, Bein, and Ayala (2006), linking experiences of homophobia, racism, and poverty to psychological health and sexual risk practices among gay identified Latino men. Using a similar framework, the current study investigated the impact of African American and same sex attracted identity development on psychological health and sexual risk practices within a sample of African American HIV-positive MSMs. The current study's sample reported a diverse range of sexual identities (e.g., gay, heterosexual, “on the down low;”), with all participants having engaged in consensual sex with other men. Results indicated that higher endorsement of the Anti-White African American identity (as measured by the Cross Racial Identity Scale [CRIS, Vandiver et al., 2000]), as well as lower levels of psychological well-being, and younger ages, predicted circumstances promoting unsafe sex. Higher endorsements of the African American identities of Multiculturalist Inclusive and Miseducation, as well as the same sex attracted identity of Superiority (as measured by the Lesbian and Gay Identity Scale [LGIS; Mohr & Fassinger, 2000]), predicted interpersonal barriers to unsafe sex. Additional exploratory analyses showed higher endorsements of the same sex identity of Homonegativity to predict lower levels of psychological well-being; higher endorsements of the African American identity of Assimilation, an (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Charles Waehler Ph.D. (Advisor) Subjects: African Americans; Behaviorial Sciences; Demographics; Developmental Psychology; Gender; Health; Multicultural Education; Psychology; Psychotherapy; Public Health; Social Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2014, Educational Leadership

The lives of college students who are HIV positive in the United States have received little attention. This study addressed this lack by inquiring into the self-cultivation and institutional experiences of gay college men living with HIV. Informed by AIDS activism and queer theory, I used narrative and arts-based methods to explore participants' self-cultivation I placed particular focus on participants' discourse given that American sociopolitical discourse associates HIV/AIDS with gay men. I conducted over sixty hours of in-depth interviews with nine gay college men of various ages, races, geographic locations, and institutional settings. Six of the nine participants created artwork to express their relationship to HIV/AIDS. Using poststructural narrative analysis, the major findings of this study include: higher educational silence about HIV/AIDS; an affective structure to participants' discourse; and an askesis of shame. Most participants encountered a silence or lack of discourse around HIV/AIDS in their institutions. Institutional silence complicated participants' ability to discern whether to seek support or to disclose their HIV status on campus. Although participants called upon distinct discourses, they shared a common affective structure. Having an affective structure means that these men represented and discussed HIV/AIDS as driving the way they live, although differently at different times and with various intensities determined by different events, objects and people. Like affect, their relationship with HIV varied, often unpredictably, except for its constant presence. While these men felt differently about having HIV, I describe their common affective structure as an askesis of shame. Askesis, or self-cultivation, is a response to social contempt for gay men with HIV/AIDS and homonormative discourses of compulsory happiness. Shame is an affect involving investment in the self and others along with covering discredited aspect (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elisa Abes (Committee Chair); Peter Magolda (Committee Member); Lisa Weems (Committee Member); Madelyn Detloff (Committee Member) Subjects: Glbt Studies; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2007, Higher Education (Education)

This is a phenomenological study of the lived experiences of four gay Black men with an undergraduate degree from a historically Black college or university (HBCU). The goal of the study was to learn about the individual experiences of these men through self-reflections. Data for the study was collected primarily through an autobiographical sketch that each participant completed and individual interviews that were conducted with each participant. The autobiographical sketches and interviews were transcribed and studied for emerging themes. Eight major themes emerged from this research, which included: deciding to attend an HBCU; coming out at an HBCU; witnessing harassment and homophobia during the college years; being a Black gay male in the Black community; being Black and gay in mainstream society; coping strategies; the significance of attending an HBCU; and summing up the HBCU experience. Each major theme had a series of sub-themes. Disclosing their sexual orientation subjected the research participants to witnessing harassment and homophobia during their college years. All of the participants either witnessed harassment of fraternity members, friends, college authorities, and family members. In the general Black community, the participants identified a number of issues they faced as Black gay men. “Black masculinity” was a phrase that most of the participants used when describing the expectation of Black men in the general Black community. The participants felt that mainstream White society was generally more accepting of homosexuality than the Black community. However, the participants also felt that they were victims of racism in mainstream White communities, both heterosexual and homosexual. The significance of attending an HBCU centered around finding support. All of the research participants identified their friendship circles as their main support system. Each participant also identified his religious and/or spiritual connection as being a support system (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Young Robert (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2007, Psychology

Research has shown that gay and bisexual males use alcohol in higher quantities and more frequently than their heterosexual counterparts. In this study, I examined the relationship between sexual identity (internalized homonegativity and gay identity formation) and the quantity and frequency of alcohol use, drinking-related consequences, and drinking-related outcome expectancies in gay and bisexual males. I recruited two samples (n1 = 529; n2 = 337) via the World-Wide-Web who completed my survey online. Participants in both samples who reported a more integrated gay identity also reported less internalized homonegativity. In the second sample, there was a small but consistent relationship between internalized homonegativity, quantity and frequency of alcohol use and drinking related consequences. There was no relationship between gay identity formation and any of the drinking outcome variables. None of the sexual identity variables explained more than 10% of the variance in alcohol-related behaviors. Although the methods of this project attempted to address some of the limitations of previous research by using a larger sample size, using more than one measure of internalized homonegativity, and attempting to recruit a demographically diverse sample, my results are similar to previous results. Future directions for research include recruiting a wider range of problem and non-problem drinkers, more subjects in the lower stages of gay identity development, and subjects who are less educated, older, lower income, and from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.

Committee: Harold Rosenberg (Advisor) Subjects:

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2009, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

Much has been written on gay identity development and ethnic identity, but research conducted that examines the cross-section of both identities is very limited. Several theories have been proposed which detail gay and lesbian identity development, which involve a conversion of attitudes, values, beliefs, and behavior from a dominant heterosexual culture to those of the minority gay and lesbian culture. Likewise, ethnic identity models propose similar stage sequential processes and conversion from a dominant Anglo culture to those of a minority ethnic culture. Both the ethnic and gay identity development models function and are based on two dichotomous variables (e.g., Latino and Anglo, gay and nongay) and have been considered constructs on a continuum with two mutual endpoints. As a result, gay and lesbian people of color may end up rejecting one side and accepting the other. Morales (1990) suggested that Latino gay men live their lives in the gay community, the Latino community, and in the predominantly heterosexual white mainstream community, and that all of these communities have different expectations. The differences and stress often force Latino men into conflict as they attempt to meet the pressures, expectations and challenges. For many Latino gay men, managing these differences may determine how they choose to self-identify and how they identify with each of their other respective identities. This qualitative study examined and analyzed transcripts of interviews with Latino gay men, as they told their unique and heartfelt stories and experiences of being Latino and gay. It also examined the psychological stressors, and how they were instrumental in the manner in which they managed and maintained their identities in the Latino community, the gay community, and in the heterosexual community. The electronic version of this dissertation is available in the open-access OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd

Committee: Michele Harway PhD (Committee Chair); Ryan Sharma PsyD (Committee Member); Joseph Becher MA (Committee Member); Jose Toro-Alfonso PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Families and Family Life; Gender; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Psychology; Social Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2008, Nursing

The increased risks for isolation, victimization, and other adverse behaviors for GLB persons are substantiated in the literature. Yet awareness of the struggles by those coming to terms with their alternative sexual identity is limited. The “self comfort” can be used to describe the desired state of those who have been successful in this adjustment process. This research centers on clarifying, defining, and exploring the measurement potential of an instrument based on the construct self-comfort. As a holistic construct, self-comfort is realized in physical, psychospiritual, sociocultural-political, and environmental contexts. As a dynamic construct, self-comfort is sensitive to change over time, given effective and repetitive nursing interventions. The attributes of the construct are autonomy, identity, relationship, and transcendence. When the attributes and contexts are juxtaposed, a 16-cell grid (taxonomic structure) is created to describe the content domain and guide the creation of the new instrument. This study focused on testing the instrument with 245 gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons. The internal consistency reliability for the 44 item Self-Comfort with Sexual Identity Questionnaire (SSIQ) was .917 (standardized). Ninety- three respondents (41.3%) were men and 132 (58.7%) women. Seventy-four (30%) individuals self-identified as being gay; 73 (29.8%) as lesbian; 49 (20%) as bisexual; and 17 (6.9%) were undeclared. Study data met the factorability criteria described by the Bartlett…#8482;s test of sphericity, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test (KMO), and Measures of sampling adequacy (MSA). A principal component analysis (PCA) method of extraction with a varimax rotation was completed. The number of factors was set at four to remain consistent with the theoretical framework for the study. Factors were extracted in 6 iterations with factor loadings <.40 being suppressed. Using the guidelines for item-to factor loadings in an orthogonal solution, loadings between (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kathleen Tusaie (Advisor) Subjects: Gender; Nursing

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2007, Counseling Psychology

Stress-related growth (SRG; experiences of self-reported growth associated with a stressor), has been widely studied in psychology (Park, 1998). This research has documented the frequency and validity of SRG, as well as the relationship between stressor characteristics and types/patterns of SRG (Tennen & Affleck, 1996). However, this literature has neglected SRG from non-traumatic events, despite evidence that identity development (e.g., Cass, 1996; Erikson, 1959; McCarn & Fassinger, 1996) is highly stressful and growth-enhancing. Within lesbian and gay (LG) identity development, coming out to others has been linked to growth (e.g., Oswald, 2000; Rhoads, 1995), although these experiences of coming out growth (COG) have not been studied systematically. The present study investigated the nature of experiences of COG in a sample of 418 out LG individuals. COG, as measured by the Coming Out Growth Scale (COGS), was found to have a two-dimensional structure. Individualistic Growth (IG) captured gains in authenticity, well-being, and personal identity, while Collectivistic Growth (CG), captured growth in LG social functioning, attitudes, and involvement. COGS scores related in expected ways to SRG constructs (general SRG, optimism, stress, social desirability) and LG identity constructs (outness, sexual experience, identity stage/phase). Unlike general SRG, levels of COG were similar for men and women. Results of this study support the assertion that coming out produces growth in a number of domains that are vital to both personality and identity growth. Strengths and limitations of the present study, as well as recommendations for future research regarding other predictors of COG, are also discussed.

Committee: Charles Waehler (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology, Clinical