Untitled

What Lessons do Coming Out as Gay Men or Lesbians have for People Stigmatized by Mental Illness?

“…Instead, disclosure is a complex behavior which can be strategically controlled to yield the best outcomes for the person. Ample research on the gay community has identified stigma management strategies to frame coming out in a manner that is safe and advantageous to the gay man or lesbian (Chrobot-Mason et al 2001;Kaufman and Johnson 2004). Examples are ''meaningful disclosures'' (telling another about one's sexual orientation), which may be attempts to enhance self-esteem or negotiate public perceptions of stigma.…”

Society matters: The mediational role of social recognition in the relationship between victimization and life satisfaction among gay men

“…Consideration of community involvement as a potential coping mechanism is generally in line with the rejection-identification-model (Branscombe et al, 1999;Cronin et al, 2012;Outten, Schmitt, Garcia, & Branscombe, 2009) and especially with recent work on the protective role of behavioral identification among gay men (Doyle & Molix, 2012). In addition, we assessed concealment of one's sexual identity as an individual(istic) coping mechanism (e.g., Barnes & Lightsey, 2005; Chrobot-Mason, Button, & DiClementi, 2001;Pachankis, 2007) and control for both additional pathways. Generally, we expect victimization to trigger these mechanisms, which should in turn positively impact on life satisfaction, thus dampening the negative effect of victimization on life satisfaction.…”

“…We adapted four items from Button (2004) and Chrobot-Mason et al (2001) (Cronbach's α = 0.82): 'To conceal my sexual identity I avoid to be associated with topics or issues that concern sexual identities,' 'To conceal my sexual identity I avoid places or events where it is especially likely to meet bi-or homosexual people,' 'To conceal my sexual identity I avoid contact with people who are known to be gay or bisexual,' 'To conceal my sexual identity I let people know that I find personal questions to be inappropriate so I am not faced with them.' Ratings were made on 5-point scales ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (always).…”

Leveraging Sexual Orientation Workforce Diversity through Identity Deployment

“…Though keeping homosexuality in the closet may be harmful for such employees psychologically (Griffith & Hebl, 2002) as well for their workplace productivity (Brenner, et al, 2010;Day & Schoenrade, 1997), remaining so and opting for counterfeiting their identity or simply avoiding such matters may still be preferred by them given the possibilities of heterosexist and homophobic reactions (Chrobot-Mason, et al, 2001). However, even in such situations, homosexuality can be deployed through discretion strategy.…”

“…In case of lesbian and gay individuals, immersion-emersion attitudes make them fascinated and involved towards the gay culture and they celebrate their differences from the larger heterosexual majority. At the same time, these are also found to help in integrating the lesbian and gay employees with their heterosexual counterparts (Walters & Simoni, 1991;Button, 2001). Immersion-emersion attitudes are manifested by participation in gay pride march, celebrating gay pride month at workplace and involvement in "National Coming-out day" during the month of October every year.…”