Perceived parental reactions to coming out, attachment, and romantic relationship views
Perceived parental reactions to coming out, attachment, and romantic relationship views
Coming out as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) to one’s parents can be a challenging experience and may lead to acceptance or rejection. Attachment theory can help predict parents’ reactions to coming out and consequences for romantic attachment. In a cross-sectional study of 309 LGB individuals, we found that those who perceived their mother as accepting in childhood were more likely to have come out to her. Moreover, parents perceived as accepting and independence-encouraging in childhood were reported to react more positively to their child’s sexual orientation. Mothers’ positive reactions were associated with lower romantic attachment anxiety for men. The links between parent-child relationship quality and optimism and trust in romantic relationships were mediated by romantic attachment patterns. Findings support the contention that LGB pair bonds are attachment relationships, and underline the importance of prior parent-child relationships for predicting LGB individuals’ experience of coming out and romantic relationships
217-236
Carnelley, Katherine B.
02a55020-a0bc-480e-a0ff-c8fe56ee9c36
Hepper, Erica G.
fe969931-cea2-4781-a474-d41a89b213ae
Hicks, Colin
30d6b428-48f1-4eaa-b26e-6dcaebd2df67
Turner, William
7b9d3fb1-89b3-418d-85d9-97dc9008a0a6
May 2011
Carnelley, Katherine B.
02a55020-a0bc-480e-a0ff-c8fe56ee9c36
Hepper, Erica G.
fe969931-cea2-4781-a474-d41a89b213ae
Hicks, Colin
30d6b428-48f1-4eaa-b26e-6dcaebd2df67
Turner, William
7b9d3fb1-89b3-418d-85d9-97dc9008a0a6
Carnelley, Katherine B., Hepper, Erica G., Hicks, Colin and Turner, William
(2011)
Perceived parental reactions to coming out, attachment, and romantic relationship views.
Attachment and Human Development, 13 (3), .
(doi:10.1080/14616734.2011.563828).
Abstract
Coming out as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) to one’s parents can be a challenging experience and may lead to acceptance or rejection. Attachment theory can help predict parents’ reactions to coming out and consequences for romantic attachment. In a cross-sectional study of 309 LGB individuals, we found that those who perceived their mother as accepting in childhood were more likely to have come out to her. Moreover, parents perceived as accepting and independence-encouraging in childhood were reported to react more positively to their child’s sexual orientation. Mothers’ positive reactions were associated with lower romantic attachment anxiety for men. The links between parent-child relationship quality and optimism and trust in romantic relationships were mediated by romantic attachment patterns. Findings support the contention that LGB pair bonds are attachment relationships, and underline the importance of prior parent-child relationships for predicting LGB individuals’ experience of coming out and romantic relationships
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Accepted/In Press date: September 2010
Published date: May 2011
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Local EPrints ID: 164937
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/164937
ISSN: 1461-6734
PURE UUID: 2560e3a1-82f1-4c69-a5b1-bd567ff8d953
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Date deposited: 07 Oct 2010 13:17
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:45
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Author:
Colin Hicks
Author:
William Turner
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