Coming out to Siblings, Best Friends, and Parents in an Italian Sample of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual People and those of all other sexual orientations
| Componente | Categoria |
|---|---|
| Jessica Pistella | Dottorando/Assegnista/Specializzando componente non strutturato del gruppo di ricerca / PhD/Assegnista/Specializzando member non structured of the research group |
| Francesca Federico | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Luigi Leone | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Componente | Qualifica | Struttura | Categoria |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mara Morelli | Titolare di assegno di ricerca | Scienze Umane e Sociali, Università della Valle D'Aosta | Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships |
Coming out (CO), the process by which lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and those of all other sexual orientations (LGB+) choose to reveal their sexual orientation to others, is a central component of sexual identity development. The process has been described as an important milestone for sexual identity formation and integration and is positively associated with several benefits in terms of life satisfaction and mental health. Prior research on CO to family members has mainly focused on parental reactions, and only a few studies have investigated the relationship between LGB+ persons and their siblings in the CO process, or the role of best friends in this process. Indeed, siblings have been recognized as playing a major role in the CO process, because they share the same family as the lesbian and gay individual and are often of the same generation.
Thus, our research project will approach this issue with three main goals:
1) provide descriptive qualitative and quantitative data on age-related milestones for CO process;
2) examine whether internalized sexual stigma, homophobic bullying, and positive LGB+ identity might inhibit or encourage the choice to come out;
3) analyze the moderating and meditating roles of LGB+ people's age, gender, and sexual orientation on the relationship between internalized sexual stigma, positive LGB+ identity, and CO to family members/best friends.
To accomplish the planned goals, we will adopt a variety of research methodologies, tools and measures. We will use ad-hoc online surveys to collect data regarding sociodemographic variables, CO process, well-being, internalized sexual stigma, positive LGB+ identity, and homophobic bullying. Moreover, we will conduct standardized interviews to deeply understand the CO process: We will interview the parents of LGB+ sons/daughters and sexual minority people to extend on the existing scientific literature concerning the role of parents/siblings and important others in the LGB+ CO process.