How does parental religious ideology influence LGBTQ youth's identity development and disclosure strategies?
The social psychological literature suggests that adolescence is characterized by increased independence from parents and exploration of new identities.
For LGBTQ+ individuals, coming out to their families can be a difficult process due to the stigma associated with sexual minority status. The present study examined how parental religiosity affects LGBTQ+ youth's disclosure strategies and how this impacts their identity development.
To explore these issues, I conducted an online survey using Qualtrics software. The sample included 100 LGBTQ+ individuals between the ages of 18-24 who had come out to their parents. Participants were recruited through Facebook groups and advertisements on popular LGBTQ+ websites. They completed a demographic questionnaire and a series of measures assessing their perceptions of parental religiosity, identity development, and disclosure strategies.
Participants rated their agreement with statements such as "My family has strong religious beliefs" and "I attend church regularly," which allowed me to categorize them into high or low religiosity groups. Second, they completed the Identity Development Scale, which assesses five aspects of identity development (i.e., commitment, fusing, integration, diffusion, moratorium). Third, they answered questions about their communication style when coming out to their parents, including whether they used explicit language and discussed specific details about their experiences.
They answered open-ended questions about how being out to their parents affected their relationships with them.
The results revealed that those in the high religiosity group reported significantly lower levels of identity development than those in the low religiosity group. In addition, they tended to use more indirect and less explicit communication styles when coming out to their families.
The latter did not appear to be related to any negative effects on identity development. These findings suggest that parental religiosity may act as a barrier to positive identity formation for LGBTQ+ youth and encourage them to engage in cautious disclosure strategies. This study contributes to our understanding of the unique challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals and offers insights for parents and therapists working with this population.
How does parental religious ideology influence LGBTQ youth's identity development and disclosure strategies?
Parents play an important role in shaping their children's identities and helping them navigate through different life stages. Religious beliefs can affect how parents view sexuality and gender roles, which may influence their attitudes towards LGBTQ youth. Research has shown that religious families are more likely to have conservative values regarding sexuality and gender roles than non-religious families.