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- Genre: Masters Thesis
Description
In this study, the posts and interactions on a social media site for sexuality and/or gender questioning adolescents were analyzed in order to explore how online spaces contribute to identity development and exploration for this community. Fifty posts, pulled from two Reddit threads, were assessed to determine how questioning adolescents were discussing and questioning their sexual and/or gender identity. The replies of the postee to comments from others were also analyzed to further explore responses to and engagement with other members of the LGBTQ+ community. Using a thematic analysis, it was determined that questioning youth were using Reddit as a means of getting advice, help, explanation, and clarification about their identities and labels they could self-identify as. It was also determined that identities were positively impacted and informed through engagement with others through the exchange of supportive comments and advice. This data suggests that social media can provide positive and supportive safe spaces for identity development and a sense of shared community. However, the significance of the anonymity provided by social media sites is an important part of this provision. It is recommended that further research be done within this framework in order to assess how identity exploration occurs on multiple social media platforms, with an emphasis on the earlier aspects of identity formation given that the focus to date has been primarily on the specific process of coming out.
ContributorsArcher, Katie (Author) / Mean, Lindsey (Thesis advisor) / Cayetano, Catalina (Committee member) / Taylor, Jameien (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
To reveal opinions people may not explicitly portray, researchers have implemented a methodology called the Implicit Associations Test (IAT). While this test saw widespread use after its inception, recent problems have undermined the reliability of the measure. Researchers have begun to address these limitations by evaluating different approaches, such as the Action Dynamics paradigm. Like the IAT, the aim of action dynamics is to assess underlying activation and competition amongst beliefs as they unfold in real-time, while adding a number of more sensitive measures, in addition to those used in an IAT. The trajectories of participants’ computer mouse cursors are tracked as they move from a stimulus statement to a response, providing data of the real-time decisions people are making across a number of variables. For this thesis study, the aim was to use an action dynamics paradigm to explore whether implicit biases exist toward transgender people from a larger cisgender population, even if they explicitly support or oppose others with transgender identities. These potential biases were assessed by evaluating the statements people were asked to confirm or disconfirm. There were also a number of analyses conducted in order to investigate whether such predictors such as
participants’ gender or political ideology predicted differences in responses. Although differences were seen in the reaction time to statements of a certain category, the other trajectory measures showed that participants’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward transgender people were aligned. Implications, limitations, and future directions of this
work are then discussed.
ContributorsHamlett, Mara Carol (Author) / Duran, Nicholas (Thesis advisor) / Mickelson, Kristin (Committee member) / Hall, Deborah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Relative to their heterosexual peers, sexual minority youth experience significant mental health disparities. This, in part, is due to prejudicial encounters (e.g., discrimination, victimization) because of their sexual minority status, and potential compounding stressors from prejudicial experiences related to their ethnic minority status, which could lead to worse mental health outcomes due to intersecting minority stress processes. Surprisingly, even though religiosity has been identified as a protective factor in the general literature for adolescents and young adults, few studies have examined whether religiosity serves as a potential buffer of the relations between stress and mental health outcomes in sexual minority Latinx youth. Thus, the goals of this study were to examine: (1) whether ethnic discrimination and sexuality discrimination have additive or interactive effects on depressive symptoms, and (2) whether self or family religiosity moderate the relations between discrimination and depressive symptoms, in a sample of 377 sexual minority Latinx youth (Mage = 20.29, SD = 2.61, age range 14-24). Results showed that there was no interactive effect between ethnic discrimination and sexuality discrimination in predicting depressive symptoms. There was a significant interaction between own religiosity and sexuality discrimination in predicting depressive symptoms, in which own religiosity was negatively associated with depressive symptoms only at low level of sexuality discrimination. No significant interaction emerged between own religiosity and ethnic discrimination. Finally, there were significant interactive effects between family religiosity and discrimination (ethnic and sexuality), in which family religiosity was negatively associated with depressive symptoms only at average and low level of discrimination. These findings highlight the importance of examining the intersection of religion, sexuality, and Latinx minority status in relation to mental health outcome.
ContributorsThamrin, Hardian (Author) / Gonzales, Nancy A. (Thesis advisor) / Toomey, Russell B. (Committee member) / Anderson, Samantha F. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Sexual minorities use social media platforms at higher rates than heterosexual individuals, often to find and connect with other sexual minorities and the broader online LGBTQ+ community. These online connections may help normalize feelings and experiences as a sexual minority in a heterosexual-normed society by increasing exposure to more meaningful reference groups and helping to mitigate the negative impact of heterosexist norms. There has been relatively little research investigating online social connectedness (OSC) among sexual minority adults, the relation between OSC and positive psychological outcomes, and the role of OSC in lessening the impact of heterosexist norms. The goal of the present thesis was to examine the relation between OSC and positive psychological outcomes, and whether such a relation is mediated by compulsory heterosexuality (CH; i.e., heterosexist norms) and internalized heterosexism (IH; i.e., internalizing and accepting heterosexist norms). A sample of 298 sexual minority adults in the U.S. completed an online survey that included measures of OSC, CH, IH, and positive psychological outcomes including resilience, well-being, self-acceptance, and self-esteem. The hypothesized model, with CH and IH as serial mediators of the relation between OSC and positive psychological outcomes, along with a series of alternative models, were tested using structural equation modeling. Support was found for the hypothesized model, such that greater OSC predicted lower CH, which then predicted lower IH, which in turn predicted greater positive psychological outcomes. While several alternative models had adequate fit, the hypothesized model was best supported statistically and by previous literature. These findings provide insights into the psychological benefits of social media connections for sexual minorities and the potential for OSC to lessen the impact of heterosexist norms. This study also adds to the existing literature regarding OSC and sexual minority adults, expanding the literature from primarily focusing on sexual minority youth. Future studies should be more socio-demographically diverse and longitudinal in nature in order to help better understand the directionality of the relationship between CH and IH. The present findings may also inform the development of interventions aimed at decreasing CH and IH, which future studies should investigate more fully.
ContributorsBaumel, Katie (Author) / Hall, Deborah (Thesis advisor) / Mickelson, Kristin (Committee member) / Salerno, Jessica (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021