This dissertation investigates the influence of family messages about gender, free expression, conformity, and privacy on coming out disclosures, a difficult experience in today’s society. Using communication privacy management theory, this study explored how heteronormative beliefs, family privacy boundaries, and family communication patterns relate to disclosure concerns. A total of 218 self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) participants were recruited using convenience and snowball sampling techniques. Participants completed an online survey to measure family privacy orientations, family communication patterns, heteronormative attitudes and beliefs, and disclosure concerns. Six linear regression analyses were performed. The findings suggest that both family privacy orientations and family communication patterns contribute to concerns about disclosing one’s sexual orientation. The study did not find heteronormative beliefs and attitudes to play a significant role in disclosure concerns. Additional findings indicate that family communication patterns inform family privacy orientations, which suggest a more complicated chain of influence. The findings of the study highlight the influence of early communication on LGBT individuals’ long-term ability to communicate about their sexual orientation.

In evolutionary psychology, the concept of jealousy is explained as the result of selection pressures causing individuals to develop certain mental tendencies in order to maximize their own viability and reproduction ability. Romantic jealousy is one of such tendencies; for men ensuring their fatherhood certainty, for women the maintenance of their partner's resources. Results of previous studies using the evolutionary approach pointed out that there are specific gender differences in the perception of jealousy; men generally show more anxiety associated with sexual infidelity, women, on the other hand, with emotional infidelity. Studies dealing with jealousy between homosexual individuals show that gay men tend to express more anxiety regarding emotional infidelity (similar to heterosexual women) while homosexual women express more concerns regarding sexual infidelity (similar to heterosexual men). These studies suggest that the type of jealousy (emotional / sexual) depends on the sex of the respondent's partner and not on the sex of the individual in question. The aim of this proposed study was to examine the experience of jealousy, its perception and attitudes to it from the perspective of heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual men and women and further explore whether it will be different sexual...

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This study investigated the effect of clothing, posture, and sex of subject on inferences concerning sexual orientation and gender role. Subjects were a convenience sample of 327 students. The study wa sa 2 (masculine/feminine clothing) X 2 (masculine/feminine posture) X2 (sex of subject) between subject experimental design. Perceptions of sexual orientation were measured by a single item anchored at one end by homosexual and the other end by not homosexual.

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The American Counseling Association recently adopted standards of competency for counselors working with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients (Logan & Barret, 2005). Concurrently, the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) revised standards to require social and cultural diversity competencies, including LGB counseling competency, to be interwoven throughout counselor education curriculum (CACREP, 2009). Yet the ways that counselor educators are including these initiatives are unknown. Additionally, the factors that improve counselor competency with LGB clients are also unknown. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to examine counselors' self-perceived competency when counseling lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients and identify variables that are related to and predictive of LGB counseling competence. The quantitative study included 479 members of a southeastern state's professional counseling association including school counselors, community-based counselors, counselor educators, and counseling students. The assessment included an Information Questionnaire to collect data regarding personal and professional background, a Religiosity Index (Lippman et al., 2005; Statistics Canada, 2006), Spiritual Transcendence Index – Modified (adapted from Seidlitz et al., 2002), the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale - Short Form C (Reynolds, 1982), and the Sexual Orientation Counselor Competency Scale (Bidell, 2005). Among results, counselors felt least competent in their skills with LGB clients, compared to knowledge and attitudes subscales. An ANOVA revealed that counselor educators perceived themselves as significantly more LGB-competent than counselors in other practice settings did. School counselors also reported significantly lower levels of LGB counseling competence than community counselors. Multiple regression analysis revealed that religiosity inversely predicted LGB competence whereas spirituality had a positive predictive relationship with LGB competence. Finally, there was a marked deficit in training experiences involving LGB issues for counselors in the sample. Implications of the findings suggest a need to increase experiential components of counselor training to strengthen counselors' skills with LGB clients, as well as improve the self-efficacy of school counselors in their work with LGB students. A unique finding to the study involved counselor spirituality as a positive predictor of LGB competence, perhaps indicating higher levels of compassion and connectedness to others despite differences; future studies should investigate this relationship further. / Ph. D.

"Coming out" is a unique experience for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority individuals (LGB+), yet it remains ill-defined within scholarship and is individually focused. This study investigates how same-gender couples negotiate relationship visibility and what motivates them to come out to others. A queer theoretical framework was used to explore how partners do outness. To address the needs of the literature, constructivist grounded theory methods were employed in analyzing the data. These findings showed that the majority of couples believed they had a "mutual understanding" of the rules and boundaries in place for relational visibility. In addition, the ways in which different individuals felt compelled to come out or stay in was impacted by their connection to the historical context of the Gay Rights movement. Clinical implications to help clinicians between in assessment and conceptualization in their work with members of the population were determined. / Ph. D. / “Coming out” is a unique experience for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority individuals (LGB+), yet the motivations for why individuals may choose to come out are underexplored. In addition, what it means to come out varies. This study investigates how same-gender couples negotiate their relational visibility and what motivates them to come out to others. To represent the strong influence of history and the oppression faced by LGB+ individuals and communities, a queer theoretical framework was used to guide this study and attend to the influences of power and privilege. These findings showed that the majority of couples believed they had a “mutual understanding” of the rules and boundaries in place for relational visibility and shared motivations in coming out. Clinical implications to help mental health professionals better serve these individuals, couples, and families were determined.

本文旨在通过对形式婚姻个案的分析，来探讨中国社会里的家庭与性的关系。形式婚姻是一种正在被中国同性恋者实践的互助合作型婚姻。具体而言，本文将主要关注两个问题：第一，家庭如何影响了其成年子女的性表达和性实践；第二，成年子女如何在家庭的影响下进行性表达和性实践。本文的分析材料主要包括 22份在中国某北方城市所作的深度访谈的录音整理、同性恋活动的田野笔记和形式婚姻网络聊天小组的聊天记录。本文发现，中国家庭可以通过四种机制对其成年子女的性产生重要影响，包括共同体维系、资源分配、福利供给和血缘延续。同时，成年子女在与这种四种机制所传递的压力进行策略性互动的情况下表达和实践他（她）们的性。另外，本文发现，同性恋者常常为了家庭的期望、舆论和和睦做出妥协与让步。因此，在有关中国家庭的研究中，个人主义的兴起不应被过分夸大。尽管形式婚姻是一个发生在中国社会中的个案，但是本文的发现亦有可能对有关非西方社会的家庭研究有所贡献。 / This paper tries to explore the relationship between family and sexuality in Mainland China through discussing the case of functional marriage, a reciprocal marriage conducted by the Chinese homosexuals. Specifically, the primary concern of this paper is how family shapes the expression and practice of sexuality of adult children and how adult children practice and negotiates their sexualities under the familial influences. Data for analysis in this paper includes full transcripts of twenty-two in-depth interviews in a northern city of China, field notes of homosexual activities and chat logs of on-line chatting groups for functional marriage. This paper empirically finds that Chinese families can exert considerable power on their adult children’s sexualities through four mechanisms - community maintenance, resource allocation, care provision and blood tie continuity. Concomitantly, adult children “do“ their sexualities in familial influence by strategically negotiating with power exerted through the four mechanisms. Moreover, by observing that the homosexuals’ personal desires and interests are often compromised to fulfill their families' expectations and consensus, this paper argues that the rising individualism emphasized by some studies of Chinese family should not be overstated. Though functional marriage is a case in the context of Chinese society, it may have some implications for other nonwestern societies in which family plays a central role in local culture and value system as well as in daily life. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Luo, Ming. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-60). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Chapter I. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- Background --- p.4 / Chapter III. --- Review of Literature --- p.6 / Chapter A. --- Research on Sexuality in the West --- p.6 / Chapter B. --- Family and Sexuality in Chinese Society --- p.8 / Chapter IV. --- Methods --- p.13 / Chapter A. --- Research Site --- p.13 / Chapter B. --- Data Collection --- p.14 / Chapter C. --- Analysis --- p.17 / Chapter V. --- Mechanisms of Family Pressure --- p.18 / Chapter A. --- Community Maintenance --- p.20 / Chapter B. --- Resource Allocation --- p.24 / Chapter C. --- Care Provision --- p.27 / Chapter D. --- Blood Tie Continuity --- p.31 / Chapter VI. --- Response and Contention of Family Member --- p.34 / Chapter A. --- Community Maintenance --- p.36 / Chapter B. --- Resource Allocation --- p.40 / Chapter C. --- Care Provision --- p.44 / Chapter D. --- Blood Tie Continuity --- p.48 / Chapter VII. --- Family and Sexuality: Conclusion and Discussion --- p.53 / Reference --- p.57

The purpose of this study was to analyze the change in gay/lesbian friendships after the disclosure of their sexual identity. Six specific areas were examined: (1) what are the circumstances under which persons find out their close friends are gay/lesbian (hereafter referred to as the event), (2) do relationships change when close friends find out about the participants' sexual identity, (3) if the relationship changes, how does it change (hereafter referred to as the relational outcome), (4) which events are associated with which relational outcomes, (5) how satisfied are the gays/lesbians with their relational outcomes, and (6) what are the gays'/lesbians' perceived causes of the relational outcomes. The results of this study indicated that the majority of the participants disclosed their sexual identity to their close friends. And they did so in an attempt to be honest, to avoid hiding who they are, and to be able to talk about their sexual identity freely. Most of the participants reported being quite satisfied with the relationships which became more close or stayed the same. Most of the participants reported being somewhat unsatisfied with the relationships which became more distant or terminated. The way in which the friends found out about the participants' sexual identity was not related to whether or not the relationship became more close or more distant. The participants believed their relationships became more close because they were honest. However, the participants believed their relationships became more distant because their friends were homophobic. This research is significant because it may help counselors, therapists, and practitioners coach gay men and lesbians when their relationships deteriorate or are strained. This research may also enable gay men and lesbians to be aware of potential factors which might affect their relationships with their friends after disclosure occurs. In addition, this research may equip gay men and lesbians with information to enable them to make educated decisions on discussing their sexual identity with their friends. Furthermore, the results from this research might provide suggestions to individuals who have gay friends to help them make the coming-out process easier for their gay friends. / Graduation date: 1998