Thesis (Psy. D.)--Wheaton College Graduate School, Wheaton, Ill., 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-85).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 110 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-73).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rhodes University, 2004. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Apr. 23, 2006). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 258-272).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-138). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

The extant research on the experiences of lesbian/gay, bisexual, and questioning —unsure- (LGBQ) youth shows that they have a lower sense of belonging and safety a tschool, are more likely to be victims of various types of bullying and to skip school, and use drugs and alcohol than their straight peers. Lately, however, a shift in direction towards examining the protective factors, which promote the well being of LGBQ youth, is happening. Extending the emerging research on this shift, the present study investigated the role of supportive adults at school in predicting LGBQ youth sense of safety and belonging. Also, this study examined whether adult support moderated the relationship between sexual orientation victimization and skipping school for LGBQ youth separately. The participants in this study (N = 19,551) were students (grades 8 through 12) enrolled in high schools that took part in a district-wide survey in a large, ethnically and economically diverse urban school district in British Columbia. Results showed that perceptions of adult support played a significant role in predicting the safety and belonging of LGBQ youth. Adult support significantly moderated the relationship between sexual orientation victimization and skipping school for bisexual and questioning youth but not for lesbian/gay youth. The implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed in the last section of this thesis. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The present study examined levels of anxiety symptoms based on self-identified sexual orientation, and identity-related constructs among gays and lesbians. This study was unique because it examined the roles of identity and stigma simultaneously in determining anxiety levels among gays and lesbians. Multiple identity constructs (public and private regard) and stigma (public and self) have played a significant role in determining anxiety levels in ethnic minorities, but these have not been examined to the same extent among gays and lesbians. Public stigma refers to the view of society about the individual for being a member of the stigmatized group, while self-stigma is the personal view of themselves for being a member of the group. Public regard is the view of society on the group as a whole and private regard refers to the personal view of the stigmatized group. In order to test study hypotheses, secondary data analysis was conducted on a sample of participants who completed an online survey entitled “Study of Attitudes about Sexual Orientation” and who self- identified as homosexual or heterosexual. Participants were recruited from a southeastern university and the study was also open to non-students, community members, and the public at large via widespread advertisement online. College student participants were offered modest course credit for their participation in the study. Results indicated that homosexuals reported higher levels of public stigma (t (1376) = -37.992, p < .01) and increased self-stigma (R2 = .219 F (3, 156) = 14.569, p < .001) in relation to increased public stigma and decreased public regard. The findings of the study support the idea that public perceptions about sexual orientation impact homosexuals’ self views. Stigma interventions should focus not only on reducing negative public regard about homosexuality, but also intervene to reduce the impact of public views on the self.

Marked differences have been found in men’s and women’s sexual response patterns, contingent upon their sexual orientation; opposite- and same-gender attracted men demonstrate greatest genital and self-reported arousal to their preferred stimulus type, whereas other-gender attracted women do not, and findings of same-gender attracted women have been mixed (e.g., Chivers, Seto & Blanchard, 2007; Chivers, Bouchard, Timmers, & Haberl, 2012). Given the complex nature of sexual stimuli that are used in research paradigms involving category-specificity of sexual arousal, however, it is often unclear to what extent contextual cues (cues other than the sexual actor’s sex characteristics; body movement, level of sexual activity, etc.) influence participants’ sexual response patterns. As such, the current study attempted to parse contextual cues from sexual stimuli and examined genital, self-reported, and continuous self-reported responses of same- and other-gender attracted men and women to prepotent sexual features (stimuli believed to elicit automatic sexual arousal: erect penises and vasoengorged vulvas), nonprepotent sexual features (flaccid penises and pubic triangles) and neutral stimuli (clothed men and women). All samples were found to exhibit a category-specific pattern of genital, self-reported, and continuous self-reported sexual arousal. Similarly, genital, self-reported, and continuous self-reported arousal was generally found to be greatest to “prepotent” sexual conditions. Limitations and implications are discussed. / Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2013-08-30 11:37:10.216

College is a significant stage that heavily contributes to who and what citizens become after degree attainment. During career development, college students’ interests develop through taking part in coursework and employment based occupational exploration. It has been speculated that because sexual identity development and vocational identity development are active during the same phase of life, these processes might exert influence on each other (Chen, Stacuzzi, Ruckdeschel, 2004; Fassinger, 1996; Morrow, 1997). With the changing socioeconomic climate over the past decade, individuals of varying sexual orientation identities have found it necessary or desirable to be more open regarding their identity in their career. Currently, a lack of research exists that examines LGBQ+ students’ career development (Datti, 2009; Degges-White & Shoffner, 2002; Chung, 1995; Morrow, 1997; Schneider & Dimito, 2010). The purpose of this research study was to examine the career development of LGBQ+ students. Through a qualitative, phenomenological approach utilizing nine participants, the researcher examined how a LGBQ+ sexual orientation impacts a student’s career development. Four themes emerged from the study: the participant coming out process, awareness of intersectionality of identities, navigating their career as an LGBQ+ individual, identifying potential employers, and the role of career counselors. Recommendations are shared to further support LGBQ+ individuals in their career development. As a result of this study, leaders in post-secondary education as well as policymakers are able to gain insight into the career development of this population.

Abstract not available

The contemporary field �lesbian health� was shaped by a range of social and political changes in the last third of the twentieth century, as well as by discourses originating in the historical regulation of lesbianism. In discourse, lesbians have been produced as invisible, passive victims of heterosexist and potentially homophobic health-care providers. This project sought to understand how lesbians produce and manage their own health, and their interactions with doctors and other health-care providers. The research questions asked how discourses about lesbianism and the construction of the lesbian health field influence the ways in which lesbians construct and manage their own health, and how lesbians position themselves as they negotiate clinical spaces. Using semi-structured interviews, 19 women, aged between 22 and 64 years, who identified as lesbian, gay, same-sex-attracted and queer were interviewed. Interview data were analysed using discourse and content analysis. When they engaged with the health-care system, some participants produced their lesbianism as a social matter of no relevance to health; while for others their lesbianism was central to their health. An analysis of power relations revealed the complexity of ways the participants used agency to speak or remain silent about their sexual orientation. This was motivated by complex embodied understandings about the potential for emotional, physical or ontological harm involved in coming out in clinical spaces. Some chose to remain silent all, or some of the time, others to assertively identify themselves as lesbian. This depended on a range of contemporaneous factors including safety concerns, past experience and personal judgement. Whether to come out or not in the medical encounter was not necessarily a conscious decision, but was shaped by the individual�s embodied �sense for the game�. While the health-care system had frequently provided less than optimum care, these women were not passive, but used agency to decide whether or not their sexual orientation was relevant to the medical encounter.