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Sexual Identity as a Universal Process

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Handbook of Identity Theory and Research

Abstract

This chapter summarizes advances in current theoretical and empirical literature on sexual identity development. It proposes a model of sexual identity that offers a more global (i.e., non-sexual identity group specific) perspective in comparison to existing sexual identity group-specific sexual identity models. Attention to commonalities in sexual identity development across sexual identity subgroups can offer a more global perspective that captures shared experiences of sexual identity development as well as differences between subgroups. The proposed unifying model of sexual identity development incorporates what has been learned from years of theory and research concerning sexuality, LGB and heterosexual identity development, attitudes toward sexual minority individuals, and the meaning of ordinate and subordinate group membership. The model describes the intersection of various contextual factors that influence the individual and social processes underlying sexual identity development. The unifying model is innovative in its applicability across sexual orientation identities, as well as its inclusion of a wide range of dimensions of sexual identity and possible developmental trajectories. The chapter concludes with a discussion of preliminary research findings that inform the unifying model and that have implications for future research. We hope this model allows researchers, educators, and practitioners to develop interventions and conduct investigations on broader questions about human sexuality without being constrained to gay–straight dichotomies of sexual orientation and the related methodological limitations that have characterized sexual identity theory and research in the past.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

    Frank R. Dillon

  2. Department of Educational, School and Counseling Psychology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

    Roger L. Worthington

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Bonnie Moradi

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  1. Frank R. Dillon
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  2. Roger L. Worthington
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  3. Bonnie Moradi
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Correspondence to Frank R. Dillon .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public He, University of Miami, N.W. 10th Avenue, Suite 321 1425, Miami, 33136, Florida, USA

    Seth J. Schwartz

  2. , Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, Leuven, 3000, Belgium

    Koen Luyckx

  3. School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QH, United Kingdom

    Vivian L. Vignoles

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Dillon, F.R., Worthington, R.L., Moradi, B. (2011). Sexual Identity as a Universal Process. In: Schwartz, S., Luyckx, K., Vignoles, V. (eds) Handbook of Identity Theory and Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7988-9_27

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