Date of Award

1984

Publication Type

Doctoral Thesis

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Psychology

Keywords

Psychology, Social.

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

Two hundred and fifteen gay men volunteered to participate in a study of the relationship among identity congruency, identity management, and homophobic prejudice. A major focus of this investigation concerned the extent to which these men had achieved a sense of identity congruency. In general, identity congruency referred to the integration of sexual behaviors, feelings, fantasies and self-image into one personal or valid identity. It has been predicted that those respondents who had achieved a sense of identity congruency would differ from others by not engaging in heterosexual erotic behaviors and fantasies, indicating less concerns about identity management (i.e., less fears about increased openness, less passing and less uneasiness in social situations where the revealing of one's sexual orientation may be pending), and evidencing lower levels of homophobic prejudice. Results partially confirmed these expectations. Considerable variability existed among respondents in terms of how they had rated themselves in reference to sexual preference, self-preference labels, and being in the closet. In terms of identity congruency, those who were "totally homosexual" as opposed to "predominantly homosexual" were closer to achieving an optimal level of identity congruency. They reported minimal involvement in heterosexual erotic behaviors and fantasies. Similarly, both gay-identified respondents and those who were out of the closet also appeared closer to achieving an optimal level of identity congruency. The differed significantly from others by indicating less concerns about identity management and reporting lower levels of homophobic prejudice. The culmination of these findings suggested that those respondents who are better adjusted in terms of integrating and managing a personal identity tend to be totally homosexual in terms of sexual preference, gay-identified and out of the closet. The significance of these findings were discussed in relation to the current body of literature on identity congruency and identity management among gay men. Recommendations for future research were outlined. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-04, Section: B, page: 1322. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1984.

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