A developmentally keyed scheme for the placement of gay men into psychotherapy groups

Patients can meet their needs for intimacy and individuation within the context of long-term psychotherapy groups. This is especially true for gay male patients as they work toward the development of a positive gay identity. Coming out is a social phenomenon, which is why groups are especially suited to the tasks involved. Historically, mixed groups of gay and nongay men and women have not been a safe or neutral treatment atmosphere for gay men due to therapists' prejudicial assumptions and a lack of understanding of gay male development. A developmental scheme will be presented which is keyed to the particular needs of gay men depending on their developmental stage of functioning. This scheme should serve as a more rational and appropriate guide for the diagnosis, treatment planning, and assigning of gay men to long-term psychotherapy groups.     

Gay Identity Issues Among Black Americans: Racism,Homophobia, and the Need for Validation

There is little available literature on gay and lesbian identity among Black Americans. This exploratory study involved interviewing a total of six Black-American gay men and lesbian women regarding gay identity development issues. Data pertaining to the interviewees' experiences of gay identity development were obtained through a questionnaire of six open-ended questions and an interview with each participant lasting 1 to 2 hours. This article presents some of the significant challenges faced by those who were interviewed regarding their sense of self-acceptance, both as Blacks in the predominantly White gay and lesbian community and as gay men and lesbian women in the predominantly heterosexual Black community. The implications of these issues for future research and counseling intervention are discussed. In this article the term gay identity is generally used in reference to both men and women. When women are being discussed exclusively, however, the term lesbian identity is used.     

The Facilitation of a Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Support-Therapy Group by Heterosexual Counselors

The authors discuss the development of a unique support-therapy group, composed of a mix of gay/lesbian/bisexual persons and cofacilitated by heterosexual counselors. They describe the structure of the group as well as the developmental implications of such a group for both participants and counselors.     

Psychological Adjustment of Lesbians and Gay Men

Previous research has documented that lesbians and gay men proceed through a series of stages in developing a positive lesbian and gay identity. The relationship between lesbian and gay identity and subsequent psychological adjustment has not been evaluated. These empirical studies found that positive lesbian and gay identity is related to psychological adjustment as measured by lower neurotic anxiety and greater ego strength in both an older and a younger sample of lesbians and gay men. Two coping strategies—self-labeling as a homosexual and self-disclosure of sexual orientation to others—were related to development of a positive lesbian or gay identity. These findings suggest that development of a positive lesbian or gay identity is an important task in promoting the psychological adjustment of lesbians and gay men.     

Understanding and Counseling Gay Men: A Developmental Perspective

The author reviews current concepts and research concerning homosexuality with emphasis on understanding gay men and their relationship behaviors. Because the current focus is on homosexuality as a developmental process, counseling considerations are presented from a developmental perspective and a case example is included.     

Sexual Orientation and Developmental Challenges Experienced by Gay and Lesbian Youths

Youths with a homosexual orientation face different developmental challenges during adolescence than those faced by heterosexual youths or individuals who recognize their homosexual orientation later in life. We discuss the impact of “coming out,” or defining a homosexual orientation, on the development and identity formation of youths who come out during adolescence. The process of coming out is presented as entailing four broad dimensions: recognizing oneself as lesbian or gay; exploring one's sexual orientation through the gay and lesbian community; disclosing one's sexual orientation to others; and becoming more comfortable with one's sexual orientation. Some of the major challenges faced by these youths are described, and future directions for research efforts are discussed.     

Gay and Lesbian Parents: No Longer a Paradox

The authors discuss parenting as a normative developmental issue for gay and lesbian individuals. Issues and choices that affect decisions concerning parenting, implications for counselors, and suggestions for research are discussed.     

Coming out stories framed as faith narratives, or stories of spiritual growth

The tension between religion and sexuality is particularly pronounced for gay and lesbian people who are often “caught in the middle” between a constitutional sexual orientation and a religious body that rejects it. This paper demonstrates how gay men can be helped in trying to integrate these deeply human and intrinsic parts of themselves, using a developmental approach first articulated by Robert Kegan. It argues that such development is often reflected later in theological language: in this case, in these men's coming out narratives, which are often framed as stories of spiritual growth.     

Reframing HIV prevention for gay men in the United States

The HIV epidemic in the United States has affected at least two generations of gay men. Despite numerous efforts to intervene on this public health crisis, HIV infections continue to escalate, especially among young men. This condition is compounded by an ever-growing number of gay men who are aging and living with HIV. We must enact an innovative and proactive vision and framework for HIV prevention that moves us beyond the undertakings rooted in social-cognitive paradigms that have informed this work for the past 25 years. A new framework for HIV prevention must give voice to gay men; must consider the totality of their lives; must delineate the underlying logic, which directs their relation to sex and HIV; and must concurrently respect their diverse life experiences. This approach should be rooted in a biopsychosocial paradigm, should be informed by both theory and practice, and should be directed by three theoretical lenses--a theory of syndemics, developmental theories, and contextual understandings of HIV disease. Taken together, these elements are a call to action for research and practice psychologists who are working to improve the lives of gay men.     

Gay men's experiences of therapy

Fourteen gay men were interviewed using a structured interview schedule to explore their experiences of being in therapy. Particular importance was given to their perceptions of how their sexual orientation impinged on the counselling process and how their assumptions about counsellor sexual orientation affected the therapeutic relationship. The limitations of using structured interviews in qualitative research are acknowledged. Some significant findings were made, which were not well documented in the literature, such as the impact on the therapeutic relationship of internalised homophobia within gay men themselves. These findings hold the potential to inform counselling practice with gay male clients. Recommendations are made in relation to both practice and further research.     

Assessing the Intersectionality of Religious and Sexual Identities During the Coming-Out Process

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals often experience internalized and/or externalized religious rejection due to their sexual orientation. Initial steps in the coming-out process can be especially difficult and can result in existential crises, including questioning one's place within the religious/spiritual realm. The authors propose a developmental framework for conceptualizing the role of religion and spirituality in the coming-out process. Cass's (1979, 1984) stage model of coming out and Genia's (1995) model of religious development, along with additional literature addressing LGB spirituality, serve as foundations for this framework. Counseling and research implications of the framework are also discussed.     

Heterosexism in Employment Decisions: The Role of Job Misfit

We developed and tested a model of heterosexism in employment decisions based on the lack of fit model of discrimination and social psychological research on attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. Results were supportive of both perspectives in that job candidates' sexual orientation, gender, and job gender type interacted with raters' gender and exposure to diversity training to predict ratings of candidate hirability. Consistent with prior attitudinal research, male raters tended to perceive gay male applicants as least suitable for employment. Finally, raters' attitudes toward gay men and lesbians, beliefs about the employability of gay men and lesbians, and social dominance orientation were differentially related to suitability and hirability ratings. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.     

Heterosexual adolescents’ and young adults’ beliefs and attitudes about homosexuality and gay and lesbian peers

Reports on the school climate for gay and lesbian students in the United States suggest that negative attitudes toward gay and lesbian individuals are quite common in adolescence. Very little research, however, has investigated adolescents’ sexual prejudice from a developmental perspective. In this study, 10th- (N = 119) and 12th- (N = 145) grade adolescents and college-aged young adults (N = 86) completed a questionnaire assessing their beliefs and attitudes about homosexuality, their comfort with gay and lesbian students, and their judgments and reasoning regarding the treatment of gay or lesbian peers in school. Results indicate that middle adolescents (14–16) are more likely than older adolescents (16–18) and young adults (19–26) to exhibit sexual prejudice related to social interaction with gay and lesbian peers. Interestingly, however, age-related differences in beliefs about whether homosexuality was right or wrong were not found. These findings provide evidence for age-related differences in some aspects of sexual prejudice but not others and underscore the importance of using multiple measures in assessing the development of this type of prejudice.     

Gay women,men, and families in rural settings: Toward the development of helping communities

The urban biases of empirical research on gay men, women, and families have resulted in minimal knowledge about gay people in rural settings. The diversity of lives of rural gay women and men and the variety of patterns of meeting the challenges of rural living are described. Processes of help-seeking and help-giving are discussed and the need for a helping community of family, friends, and caring others is affirmed. Collaboration between rural gay people and rural community psychologists is suggested to promote the development of helping communities for gay people and thereby initiate a process of change in rural settings.     

Developmental changes in sexual prejudice from early to late adolescence: the effects of gender, race, and ideology on different patterns of change

This study documented significant changes in prejudice toward gay and lesbian individuals among adolescents from the ages of 12 to 18 years. Moreover, in line with developmental theories of prejudice, there was substantial variability in these patterns, partially predicted by the gender and ideological beliefs (reflected by social dominance orientation [SDO]) of individuals. Boys reported higher prejudice at age 12 than girls. SDO also accounted for initial differences in levels of prejudice. Further, although prejudice toward gay men did decrease among girls over time, it did not decrease among boys. Prejudice toward lesbians decreased at similar rates for boys and girls. These different trajectories are explained within the context of gender socialization processes during adolescence. In addition, fluctuations in adolescents' own SDO corresponded with fluctuations in their level of prejudice, over and above those tied to age-related changes. This association was even stronger among those with overall higher SDO tendencies than others. However, SDO, when treated as a stable invariant factor, did not predict different patterns of progressive age-related change in prejudice. These results extend the research on sexual prejudice by examining it within a broader and more dynamic developmental framework, in greater alignment with developmental theories of prejudice.     

The Impact of Social Roles on Stereotypes of Gay Men

Past research demonstrates that heterosexuals perceive gay men to have traditionally feminine characteristics. Guided by Social Role Theory (Eagly, 1987), we predicted that this stereotype would differ depending on a gay man’s specific social role. To test this idea, participants rated five gay targets (father, single man, hairdresser, truck driver, typical gay man) on stereotypically masculine (e.g., ambitious, leader) and feminine (e.g., affectionate, sensitive) personality attributes. Gay men in traditionally masculine roles (truck driver, single man) were rated as less feminine than gay men in traditionally feminine roles (hairdresser, parent). In addition, gay men in feminine roles were perceived as more similar to the typical gay man than were those in masculine roles. Suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Family support and acceptance, gay male identity formation, and psychological adjustment: a path model.

While heterosexist family undermining has been demonstrated to be a developmental risk factor in the life of persons with same-gender orientation, the issue of protective family factors is both controversial and relatively neglected. In this study of Israeli gay males (N = 114), we focused on the interrelations of family support, family acceptance and family knowledge of gay orientation, and gay male identity formation, and their effects on mental health and self-esteem. A path model was proposed based on the hypotheses that family support, family acceptance, family knowledge, and gay identity formation have an impact on psychological adjustment, and that family support has an effect on gay identity formation that is mediated by family acceptance. The assessment of gay identity formation was based on an established stage model that was streamlined for cross-cultural practice by defining three basic processes of same-gender identity formation: self-definition, self-acceptance, and disclosure (Elizur & Mintzer, 2001). The testing of our conceptual path model demonstrated an excellent fit with the data. An alternative model that hypothesized effects of gay male identity on family acceptance and family knowledge did not fit the data. Interpreting these results, we propose that the main effect of family support/acceptance on gay identity is related to the process of disclosure, and that both general family support and family acceptance of same-gender orientation play a significant role in the psychological adjustment of gay men.     

Religious Affiliation and Attitudes Towards Gay Men: On the Mediating Role of Masculinity Threat

Previous research suggests that people from some religious backgrounds hold more negative attitudes towards gay men than others do. The current research focuses on psychological variables as an alternative explanation to religious affiliation, testing whether masculinity beliefs regarding gay men and their perceived threat to one's masculinity can explain such between‐group differences in negative attitudes. With a sample of 155 male heterosexual university students (Muslims and Christians in Germany), we found that Muslims held more negative attitudes towards gay men than Christians did. Yet, this relation was partially mediated by beliefs about the masculinity of gay men and the experience of masculinity threat imposed by gay men, substantially reducing the effect of religious affiliation on antigay attitudes. In sum, similar psychological processes explained antigay attitudes of both Muslims and Christians. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The relation between women's body esteem and friendships with gay men

Women who associate with gay men are often portrayed as physically unattractive and lacking in both self-confidence and attention from straight men. However, many women report enhanced self-esteem and feelings of attractiveness as a result of attention from their gay friends. It is well established that body esteem can be negatively impacted by certain peer processes, yet there is a dearth of quantitative research on positive peer influences on women's body esteem. We tested two hypotheses: (a) women with gay male friends have poor body esteem and are rejected by heterosexual men, and (b) more contact with gay men is positively related to body esteem. Participants were 154 heterosexual women, who completed measures of their friendships with gay men, straight men and women, body esteem, relationship involvement and break-ups. Results supported the hypothesis that women's body esteem, specifically feelings of sexual attractiveness, is positively associated with friendships with gay men.