Date of Award
2011
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Psychology
Abstract
With college students becoming more interested in the spiritual dimensions of their lives (Astin, 2004; Lindholm, 2007), gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) students may have a harder time finding the support to navigate their spiritual selves. Because of this, the intersection of spiritual identity and GLB identity was investigated. Specifically, this study sought to see if students. GLB identities affect their spiritual identities, if their spiritual identities affect their GLB identities, and if there was a connection and intersection between the two. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with eight students. This study showed that there could be a relationship between the formation of GLB and spiritual identity. Themes from the interviews were (a) intrapersonal identity, (b) judgments, (c) life changing crises, and (d) moving from independence to interdependence. Additionally, the interviews were connected to Parks' (2000) model of young adult faith formation and Fassinger's (1998) model of sexual minority identity formation. This research's findings offer implications for student affairs and higherEducational practice with GLB and spiritual students, as well as potential for further research on spiritual GLB students.
Recommended Citation
Birch, Zachary G., "Gay, Lesbian, And Bisexual Spirituality: An Intersectional Identity Study" (2011). All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1209.
https://scholars.indianastate.edu/etds/1209