Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

The goal of the current research is to contribute to knowledge regarding the ways in which religion impacts the mental health of lesbian women and gay men. A body of existing literature shows support for religion as a means of bolstering psychological well-being. However, there is a dearth of research on the unique ways in which religious sexual minority individuals may be differentially affected by religion, considering the presence of heterosexist beliefs and norms in many mainline Western religions. The current research explores the effects of the interaction between religion and internalized homonegativity on psychological well-being. Possible relationships between religious coping, internalized homonegativity, and mental health outcomes are examined. The final sample consisted of 57 lesbian and gay individuals with 44 religious individuals and 13 agnostic individuals. Participants completed the Brief Symptom Inventory-18, the Brief RCOPE Long Form, and depending on self-identified gender, either the Lesbian Internalized Homophobia Scale (women) or the Internalized Homophobia Scale (men). Participants also completed a demographic scale, which included measures of religiosity and spirituality. Consistent with research demonstrating the protective role of religion, the results demonstrated that better psychological health was associated with religiosity and religious involvement among a sample of only religious participants, as well as a sample of religious and agnostic participants combined. The hypothesized role of internalized homonegativity as a mediator between religious coping and psychological well-being could not be explored due to lack of association between religious coping and internalized homonegativity. However, higher levels of internalized homonegativity were associated with worse psychological health among only religious participants as well as religious and agnostic participants combined. More frequent use of positive religious coping was associated with better psychological health among religious and agnostic participants combined, but not among only religious participants. This research will contribute to the knowledge of how the mental health of sexual minority individuals is affected by religion. The results of the current research suggest that lesbian and gay individuals may benefit from the protective effects of religion on mental health, and that social stressors may have a deleterious effect on psychological well-being among lesbian and gay religious and agnostic individuals. Greater understanding of the interactions between religion, social stress, and psychological outcomes may assist clinicians in providing more effective treatment to assist religious sexual minority clients in navigating conflicts between potentially competing intersecting identities.

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