Lesbian Self-Development in Context: Cohort Analysis at Two Points in History

In this research, we investigated essentialist and social constructionist perspectives on lesbian self-development and integrated them through the use of the life course developmental model. We combined 2 participant samples, 1 collected in 1979 and 1 in 2003 to 2004, to ascertain history, age, and cohort effects for 10 milestones concerning lesbian self-development. The results support a model of lesbian self-development that is based on person–environment interaction.