Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 2004. / Title from PDF t.p. (Aug. 11, 2004) Advisor: West, John D. Keywords: sexual orientation; aging; gay aging; internalized homophobia; advance directives; homosexuality; disclosure. Includes survey instrument. Includes bibliographical references (p. 175- 209).

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Social Anthropology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 244-254). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=1240693741&SrchMode=1&sid=12&Fmt=2&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1195570255&clientId=5220

Thesis (M.S.W.) - Carleton University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p.99-104). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 115 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 53-60).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Kent State University, 2004. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Apr. 27, 2006). Includes bibliographical references (p. 175-209).

This thesis fills an important research gap in the sociology of ageing and life course, and the sociology of sexualities and intimacies by exploring the understudied experience of singlehood among older gay men. It is a qualitative study based on semi-structured in-depth life story interviews conducted with 25 self-identified gay men over the age of 50 who live in England and have been single for most of their lives. The primary objective of the study is to investigate how older single gay men interpret and assign meanings to their lives in later life. In considering the role of narratives in bridging structure and agency, the thesis suggests that the older gay men’s narratives of singlehood need to be understood with reference to the master narrative in society that privileges couplehood. The master narrative undoubtedly informed and at times overshadowed the ways in which the older gay men understood their lives. But at the same time this thesis finds that the research participants engaged with the master narrative in a variety of creative ways – they did not only adopt, but also adapted and subverted the dominant story line. These counter-stories do not only reproduce, but have the potential to reinvent, the meanings of relationships in contemporary societies. To achieve this, resources were needed in reframing the master narrative. From a life course perspective the thesis suggests that the older gay men’s earlier life experiences and current social locations influenced the narratives they told. Only some of the older single gay men were able to (re-)claim sexual citizenship while others were denied this. In addition, the older gay men’s story-telling was filled with ambivalence and ambiguities. As a whole, the thesis sees the older gay men’s stories as displaying agency within structure.

No description available.

Older gay men and lesbians may be at greater risk for depression than older sexual majority adults due to a lifetime of sexual minority stress. We hypothesize that aggression and being single are positively associated with depression. Resilience is negatively associated with depression. Aggression, being single and resilience account for a significant proportion of variance in depression. Resilience moderates the relationship between aggression and depression. Significant differences between older gay men and older lesbians' aggression, resilience and depression scores exist. For our older gay men and lesbian combined group, a moderation analysis indicated that in addition to aggression and resilience, being single significantly predicted depression accounting for approximately 57% of the variance in depression. Furthermore, resilience significantly moderated the relationship between aggression and depression in our model of older gay men and lesbians. For our older gay men-only group a moderation analysis (indicated that and resilience significantly predicted depression accounting for approximately 57% of the variance in depression. Furthermore, resilience significantly moderated the relationship between aggression and depression in our model, in our sample of older gay men. Four our lesbian-only group a moderation analysis indicated that being single and resilience significantly predicted depression accounting for approximately 54% of the variance in depression.

No description available.