Parental influences on the self-esteem of gay and lesbian youths: a reflected appraisals model |
| |
Authors: | R C Savin-Williams |
| |
Institution: | Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. |
| |
Abstract: | Based on a population of 317 gay and lesbian youths, the current investigation explores the appropriateness of a reflected appraisals perspective in predicting the degree to which parental attitudes, as perceived by youth, affects their self-esteem and comfortableness being gay. A lesbian was most comfortable with her sexual orientation if she also reported that her parents accepted her homosexuality; these variables did not, however, predict her level of self-esteem. Among the gay males, parental acceptance predicted comfortable being gay if the parents were also perceived as important components of a youth's self-worth; a male most comfortable with his sexual orientation had the highest level of self-esteem. Results are discussed in terms of: (a) sex of parent, (b) sex-role development, (c) comparisons of gays and lesbians, and (d) research on gay and lesbian youth. |
| |
Keywords: | |
|
|