Top

Gepubliceerd in:

01-08-2009 | Empirical Research

Configurations of Identity Among Sexual Minority Youth: Context, Desire, and Narrative

Auteurs: Phillip L. Hammack, Elisabeth Morgan Thompson, Andrew Pilecki

Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Youth and Adolescence | Uitgave 7/2009

Abstract

Youth with same-sex desire undergo a process of narrative engagement as they construct configurations of identity that provide meaning and coherence with available sexual taxonomies. This article presents a theoretical analysis and four case studies centering on the relationship among context, desire, and identity for youth with same-sex desire. Through an interpretive, holistic analysis of the personal narratives of youth, we examine the integration of same-sex desire, behavior, and identity in the general life story and the selective appropriation of elements of “master narratives” of sexual identity development. Narratives were characterized by challenges to integrate desire, behavior, and identity into a configuration that conformed to the received sexual taxonomy. Implications for theory and further research on sexual identity development are discussed.

vorige artikel Special Issue Introduction: New Research on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth: Studying Lives in Context

volgende artikel Are Teens “Post-Gay”? Contemporary Adolescents’ Sexual Identity Labels

Allport, G. W. (1924). The study of the undivided personality. Journal of Abnormal Psychology and Social Psychology, 19(2), 132–141. doi:10.1037/h0064744.

Allport, G. W. (1937). Personality: A psychological introduction. New York: Holt.

Allport, G. W. (1962). The general and the unique in psychological science. Journal of Personality, 30(3), 405–422. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1962.tb02313.x.PubMed

Berenson, C. (2002). What’s in a name? Bisexual women define their terms. Journal of Bisexuality, 2(2/3), 9–21. doi:10.1300/J159v02n02_02.

Blackburn, M. V. (2002). Disrupting the (hetero)normative: Exploring literacy performance and identity work with queer youth. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 46(4), 312–324.

Blumenfeld, W. J. (1993). “Gay/straight” alliances: Transforming pain to pride. High School Journal, 77, 113–121.

Bourdieu, P. (2000). The biographical illusion. In P. du Gay, J. Evans, & P. Redman (Eds.), Identity: A reader (pp. 299–305). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage (Original work published 1986).

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Routledge.

Cass, V. C. (1979). Homosexual identity formation: A theoretical model. Journal of Homosexuality, 4, 219–235. doi:10.1300/J082v04n03_01.PubMed

Cohler, B. J. (1982). Personal narrative and the life course. In P. Baltes & O. G. Brim (Eds.), Life span development and behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 205–241). New York: Academic Press.

Cohler, B. J. (2007). Writing desire: Sixty years of gay autobiography. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.

Cohler, B. J., & Hammack, P. L. (2007). The psychological world of the gay teenager: Social change, narrative, and “normality”. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36, 47–59. doi:10.1007/s10964-006-9110-1.

Dannefer, D. (1984). Adult development and social theory: A paradigmatic reappraisal. American Sociological Review, 49, 100–116. doi:10.2307/2095560.

D’Augelli, A. R., Grossman, A. H., & Starks, M. T. (2006). Childhood gender atypicality, victimization, and PTSD among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21(11), 1462–1482. doi:10.1177/0886260506293482.PubMed

Diamond, L. M. (1998). Development of sexual orientation among adolescent and young adult women. Developmental Psychology, 34(5), 1085–1095. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.34.5.1085.PubMed

Diamond, L. M. (2000). Sexual identity, attractions, and behavior among young sexual-minority women over a 2-year period. Developmental Psychology, 36(2), 241–250. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.36.2.241.PubMed

Diamond, L. M. (2003a). New paradigms for research on heterosexual and sexual-minority development. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32(4), 490–498. doi:10.1207/S15374424JCCP3204_1.PubMed

Diamond, L. M. (2003b). Was it a phase? Young women’s relinquishment of lesbian/bisexual identities over a 5-year period. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 352–364. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.2.352.PubMed

Diamond, L. M. (2003c). What does sexual orientation orient? A biobehavioral model distinguishing romantic love and sexual desire. Psychological Review, 110(1), 173–192. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.110.1.173.PubMed

Diamond, L. M. (2004). Emerging perspectives on distinctions between romantic love and sexual desire. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13(3), 116–119. doi:10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.00287.x.

Diamond, L. M. (2005). A new view of lesbian subtypes: Stable versus fluid identity trajectories over an 8-year period. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 29, 119–128. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2005.00174.x.

Diamond, L. M. (2006). Careful what you ask for: Reconsidering feminist epistemology and autobiographical narrative in research on sexual identity development. Signs, 31(2), 471–491. doi:10.1086/491684.

Diamond, L. M. (2008a). Female bisexuality from adolescence to adulthood: Results from a 10-year longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 44(1), 5–14. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.44.1.5.PubMed

Diamond, L. M. (2008b). Sexual fluidity: Understanding women’s love and desire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Dilthey, W. (1976). The development of hermeneutics. In H. Rickman (Ed. & Trans.), W. Dilthey: Selected writings (pp. 246–263). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press (Original work published 1900).

Driver, S. (2006). Virtually queer youth communities of girls and birls: Dialogical spaces of identity work and desiring exchanges. In D. Buckingham & R. Willett (Eds.), Digital generations: Children, young people, and new media (pp. 229–245). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Dubé, E. M. (2000). The role of sexual behavior in the identification process of gay and bisexual males. Journal of Sex Research, 37(2), 123–132.CrossRef

Elder, G. H. (1974). Children of the great depression: Social change in life experience. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Elder, G. H. (1998). The life course as developmental theory. Child Development, 69, 1–12.PubMed

Elliott, P. E. (1985). Theory and research on lesbian identity formation. International Journal of Women’s Studies, 8, 64–71.

Erikson, E. H. (1959). Identity and the life cycle. New York: Norton.

Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: Norton.

Eves, A. (2004). Queer theory, butch/femme identities and lesbian space. Sexualities, 7, 480–496. doi:10.1177/1363460704047064.

Flowers, P., & Buston, K. (2001). “I was terrified of being different”: Exploring gay men’s accounts of growing up in a heterosexist society. Journal of Adolescence, 24, 51–65. doi:10.1006/jado.2000.0362.PubMed

Foucault, M. (1978). The history of sexuality, Vol. 1: An introduction. New York: Vintage.

Freud, S. (1962). Three essays on the theory of sexuality (J. Strachey, Trans.). New York: Basic Books (Original work published 1905).

Gergen, K., & Gergen, M. (1983). Narratives of the self. In T. Sarbin & K. E. Scheibe (Eds.), Studies in social identity (pp. 245–273). New York: Praeger.

Gjerde, P. F. (2004). Culture, power, and experience: Toward a person-centered cultural psychology. Human Development, 47, 138–157. doi:10.1159/000077987.

Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Golden, C. (1996). What’s in a name? Sexual self-identification among women. In R. C. Savin-Williams & K. M. Cohen (Eds.), The lives of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals: Children to adults (pp. 229–249). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.

Gregg, G. S. (2007). Culture and identity in a Muslim society. New York: Oxford University Press.

Guarnero, P. A. (2007). Family and community influences on the social and sexual lives of Latino gay men. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 18(1), 12–18. doi:10.1177/1043659606294195.PubMed

Hammack, P. L. (2005). The life course development of human sexual orientation: An integrative paradigm. Human Development, 48, 267–290. doi:10.1159/000086872.

Hammack, P. L. (2008). Narrative and the cultural psychology of identity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 12(3), 222–247. doi:10.1177/1088868308316892.PubMed

Hammack, P. L., & Cohler, B. J. (In press) Narrative engagement and sexual identity: An interdisciplinary approach to the study of sexual lives. In P. L. Hammack & B. J. Cohler (Eds.), The story of sexual identity: Narrative perspectives on the gay and lesbian life course. New York: Oxford University Press.

Herdt, G., & Boxer, A. (1993). Children of Horizons: How gay and lesbian teens are leading a new way out of the closet. Boston: Beacon.

Herek, G. M. (2006). Legal recognition of same-sex relationships in the United States: A social science perspective. The American Psychologist, 61(6), 607–621. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.61.6.607.PubMed

Herek, G. M. (2007). Confronting sexual stigma and prejudice: Theory and practice. The Journal of Social Issues, 63(4), 905–925.

Hetrick, E. S., & Martin, A. D. (1987). Developmental issues and their resolution for gay and lesbian adolescents. Journal of Homosexuality, 14, 25–43. doi:10.1300/J082v14n01_03.PubMed

Hillier, L., & Harrison, L. (2007). Building realities less limited than their own: Young people practicing same-sex attraction on the Internet. Sexualities, 10(1), 82–100. doi:10.1177/1363460707072956.

Holland, D., Lachicotte, W., Skinner, D., & Cain, C. (1998). Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Hostetler, A. J., & Herdt, G. H. (1998). Culture, sexual lifeways, and developmental subjectivities: Rethinking sexual taxonomies. Social Research, 65, 249–290.

Josselson, R. (1996). Revising herself: The story of women’s identity from college to midlife. New York: Oxford University Press.

Kitzinger, C. (1987). The social construction of lesbianism. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Kitzinger, C., & Wilkinson, S. (1995). Transitions from heterosexuality to lesbianism: The discursive production of lesbian identities. Developmental Psychology, 31, 95–104. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.31.1.95.

Lamiell, J. T. (1981). Toward an idiothetic psychology of personality. The American Psychologist, 36(3), 276–289. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.36.3.276.

Lamiell, J. T. (1998). “Nomothetic” and “idiographic”: Contrasting Windelband’s understanding with contemporary usage. Theory and Psychology, 8(1), 23–38. doi:10.1177/0959354398081002.

Lieblich, A., Tuval-Mashiach, R., & Zilber, T. (1998). Narrative research: Reading, analysis, and interpretation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Martin, A. D., & Hetrick, E. S. (1988). The stigmatization of the gay and lesbian adolescent. Journal of Homosexuality, 15, 163–183. doi:10.1300/J082v15n01_12.PubMed

McAdams, D. P. (1990). Unity and purpose in human lives: The emergence of identity as a life story. In A. I. Rabin, R. A. Zucker, R. A. Emmons & S. Frank (Eds.), Studying persons and lives (pp. 148–200). New York: Springer.

McAdams, D. P. (1995a). The life story interview. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University.

McAdams, D. P. (1995b). What do we know when we know a person? Journal of Personality, 63(3), 365–396. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1995.tb00500.x.

McAdams, D. P. (1996). Personality, modernity, and the storied self: A contemporary framework for studying persons. Psychological Inquiry, 7(4), 295–321. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0704_1.

McAdams, D. P. (1997). The case for unity in the (post)modern self: A modest proposal. In R. D. Ashmore & L. Jussim (Eds.), Self and identity: Fundamental issues (pp. 46–80). New York: Oxford University Press.

McAdams, D. P. (2006). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by. New York: Oxford University Press.

McLean, K. C., Pasupathi, M., & Pals, J. L. (2007). Selves creating stories creating selves: A process model of self-development. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11(3), 262–278. doi:10.1177/1088868307301034.PubMed

Meyer, I., & Ouellette, S. (In press). Unity and purpose at the intersections of racial/ethnic and sexual identities. In P. L. Hammack & B. J. Cohler (Eds.), The story of sexual identity: Narrative perspectives on the gay and lesbian life course. New York: Oxford University Press.

Muehlenhard, C. L. (2000). Categories and sexuality. Journal of Sex Research, 37(2), 101–107.

Murray, H. A. (1938). Explorations in personality. New York: Oxford University Press.

Pasupathi, M., Mansour, E., & Brubaker, J. R. (2007). Developing a life story: Constructing relations between self and experience in autobiographical narratives. Human Development, 50, 85–110. doi:10.1159/000100939.

Peplau, L. A. (2001). Rethinking women’s sexual orientation: An interdisciplinary, relationship-focused approach. Personal Relationships, 8, 1–19. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2001.tb00025.x.

Peplau, L. A., & Garnets, L. D. (2000). A new paradigm for understanding women’s sexuality and sexual orientation. The Journal of Social Issues, 56(2), 329–350. doi:10.1111/0022-4537.00169.CrossRef

Phelps, E., Furstenberg, F. F., & Colby, A. (2002). Looking at lives: American longitudinal studies of the twentieth century. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1966). The psychology of the child (H. Weaver, Trans.). New York: Basic Books.

Raley, A. B., & Lucas, J. L. (2006). Stereotypes or success? Prime-time television’s portrayals of gay male, lesbian, and bisexual characters. Journal of Homosexuality, 51(2), 19–38. doi:10.1300/J082v51n02_02.PubMed

Rich, A. (1980). Compulsory heterosexuality and lesbian existence. Signs, 5(4), 631–660. doi:10.1086/493756.

Ricoeur, P. (1984). The model of the text: Meaningful action considered as a text. Social Research, 51, 185–218.

Runyan, W. M. (1980). The Life Satisfaction Chart: Perceptions of the course of subjective experience. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 11(1), 45–64. doi:10.2190/B7YR-3LAB-5GAQ-AMRT.PubMed

Russell, S. T. (2002). Queer in America: Citizenship for sexual minority youth. Applied Developmental Science, 6(4), 258–263. doi:10.1207/S1532480XADS0604_13.

Russell, S. T., & Seif, H. (2002). Bisexual female adolescents: A critical analysis of past research and results from a national survey. Journal of Bisexuality, 2, 73–94. doi:10.1300/J159v02n02_05.

Rust, P. C. (1993). “Coming out” in the age of social constructionism: Sexual identity formation among lesbian and bisexual women. Gender & Society, 7, 50–77. doi:10.1177/089124393007001004.

Ryan, C., & Rivers, I. (2003). Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth: Victimization and its correlates in the USA and UK. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 5(2), 103–119. doi:10.1080/1369105011000012883.

Sampson, E. E. (1993). Identity politics: Challenges to psychology’s understanding. The American Psychologist, 48(12), 1219–1230. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.48.12.1219.

Savin-Williams, R. C. (1989a). Coming out to parents and self-esteem among gay and lesbian youths. Journal of Homosexuality, 18, 1–35. doi:10.1300/J082v18n01_01.PubMed

Savin-Williams, R. C. (1989b). Gay and lesbian adolescents. Marriage & Family Review, 14, 197–216. doi:10.1300/J002v14n03_10.

Savin-Williams, R. C. (1998). “And then I became gay”: Young men’s stories. New York: Routledge.

Savin-Williams, R. C. (2001a). A critique of research on sexual-minority youths. Journal of Adolescence, 24, 5–13. doi:10.1006/jado.2000.0369.PubMed

Savin-Williams, R. C. (2001b). Mom, dad. I’m gay: How families negotiate coming out. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.

Savin-Williams, R. C. (2005). The new gay teenager. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Savin-Williams, R. C. (2006). Who’s gay? Does it matter? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15(1), 40–44. doi:10.1111/j.0963-7214.2006.00403.x.

Savin-Williams, R. C. (2008). Then and now: Recruitment, definition, diversity, and positive attributes of same-sex populations. Developmental Psychology, 44(1), 135–138. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.44.1.135.PubMed

Savin-Williams, R. C., & Diamond, L. M. (2000). Sexual identity trajectories among sexual-minority youths: Gender comparisons. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 29(6), 607–627. doi:10.1023/A:1002058505138.PubMed

Savin-Williams, R. C., & Dubé, E. M. (1998). Parental reactions to their child’s disclosure of a gay/lesbian identity. Family Relations, 47, 7–13. doi:10.2307/584845.

Schachter, E. P. (2004). Identity configurations: A new perspective on identity formation in contemporary society. Journal of Personality, 72(1), 167–200. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00260.x.PubMed

Schachter, E. P. (2005). Context and identity formation: A theoretical analysis and a case study. Journal of Adolescent Research, 20(3), 375–395. doi:10.1177/0743558405275172.

Schmitt, M. T., Lehmiller, J. J., & Walsh, A. L. (2007). The role of heterosexual identity threat in differential support for same-sex “civil unions” versus “marriages”. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 10(4), 443–455. doi:10.1177/1368430207081534.

Seidman, S. (Ed.). (1996). Queer theory/sociology. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Simon, W. (1994). Deviance as history: The future of perversion. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 23(1), 1–20. doi:10.1007/BF01541615.PubMed

Stetsenko, A., & Arievitch, I. M. (2004). The self in cultural-historical activity theory: Reclaiming the unity of social and individual dimensions of human development. Theory & Psychology, 14(4), 475–503. doi:10.1177/0959354304044921.

Stewart, A. J., & Healy, J. M. (1989). Linking individual development and social changes. The American Psychologist, 44(1), 30–42. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.44.1.30.

Strommen, E. F. (1989). “You’re a what?”: Family member reactions to the disclosure of homosexuality. Journal of Homosexuality, 18, 37–58. doi:10.1300/J082v18n01_02.PubMed

Tappan, M. B. (1997). Interpretive psychology: Stories, circles, and understanding lived experience. The Journal of Social Issues, 53(4), 645–656. doi:10.1111/0022-4537.00041.

Thompson, E. M., & Morgan, E. M. (2008). “Mostly straight” young women: Variations in sexual behavior and identity development. Developmental Psychology, 44(1), 15–21. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.44.1.15.PubMed

Thorne, A., & Nam, V. (In press). The storied construction of personality. In P. Corr & G. Matthews (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of personality. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Tolman, D. L., & Diamond, L. M. (2001). Desegregating sexuality research: Cultural and biological perspectives on gender and desire. Annual Review of Sex Research, 12, 33–74.PubMed

Warner, M. (1999). The trouble with normal: Sex, politics, and the ethics of queer life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Weiss, J. T. (2003). GL vs. BT: The archaeology of biphobia and transphobia within the U.S. gay and lesbian community. Journal of Bisexuality, 3(3/4), 25–55. doi:10.1300/J159v03n03_02.

Whisman, V. (1996). Queer by choice: Lesbians, gay men, and the politics of identity. New York: Routledge.

Titel: Configurations of Identity Among Sexual Minority Youth: Context, Desire, and Narrative
Auteurs: Phillip L. Hammack
Elisabeth Morgan Thompson
Andrew Pilecki
Publicatiedatum: 01-08-2009
Uitgeverij: Springer US
Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Youth and Adolescence / Uitgave 7/2009
Print ISSN: 0047-2891
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-6601
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-008-9342-3

Bohn Stafleu van Loghum

Deel dit onderdeel of sectie (kopieer de link)

Abstract

Log in om toegang te krijgen

Andere artikelen Uitgave 7/2009

Are Teens “Post-Gay”? Contemporary Adolescents’ Sexual Identity Labels

Comparing Sexual-Minority and Heterosexual Young Women’s Friends and Parents as Sources of Support for Sexual Issues

Intergroup Contact and Beliefs about Homosexuality in Adolescence

Willingness to Remain Friends and Attend School with Lesbian and Gay Peers: Relational Expressions of Prejudice Among Heterosexual Youth

Special Issue Introduction: New Research on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth: Studying Lives in Context

LGB and Questioning Students in Schools: The Moderating Effects of Homophobic Bullying and School Climate on Negative Outcomes