Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Graham, Steven

Keywords

Self-Compassion, LGBTQIA+, Gender, Sexuality, Identity

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

Self-compassion is a growing area of study which has yet to be applied to LGBTQIA+ individuals. The current study seeks to fill this gap in knowledge by examining the relationships between LGBTQIA+ individuals’ levels of self-compassion, how they write about negative experiences based on their sexual and/or gender identity, and their level of involvement in supportive communities. Participants wrote narrative responses about their first and most recent negative experiences disclosing their LGBTQIA+ identities to others, followed by the Self-Compassion Scale, which is centered on being kind to oneself in instances of failure, perceiving one’s experiences as part of the larger human experience, and holding painful feelings in mindful awareness. Researchers expected a global, overall increase in self-compassion words from first to most recent experience, and that level of involvement in a supportive community would be positively correlated with self-compassion scores. In addition to qualitative coding, responses were analyzed using the Language Inventory and Word Count (LIWC), which automatically reads and categorizes text using up to 60 preprogrammed categories. Researchers also created a custom LIWC dictionary based on language used in the self-compassion scale.

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