TY - JOUR
T1 - Self-esteem among lesbian, gay, bisexual and same-sex-attracted Mormons and ex-Mormons
AU - Joseph, Lauren J.
AU - Cranney, Stephen
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by Penn State Schuylkill Research Development Grants, 2013–14 and 2014–15.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2017/11/26
Y1 - 2017/11/26
N2 - Lesbian, gay, bisexual and same-sex-attracted (LGB/SSA) individuals in conservative religions often experience stigma, shame, and psychological distress in reconciling their religious and sexual identities, yet religion can also provide existential comfort and social support. We investigated relationships among self-esteem, participation in the Mormon Church, and sexual identity acceptance among 348 LGB/SSA Mormons and ex-Mormons in 2013–2014 and found that the two groups reported similar self-esteem. By testing plausible mediators (family support, gay/SSA identity acceptance, and agreement with Mormon Church policy prohibiting same-sex behaviour) through a path model, results revealed different pathways to self-esteem. Practicing LGB/SSA Mormons reported higher family support and lower gay/SSA identity acceptance than ex-Mormons, while those self-identifying as SSA but not gay reported lower gay/SSA identity acceptance. We suggest that religiously active Mormons demonstrate low self-acceptance of their gay/SSA identity while ex-Mormons suffer loss of familial and social support, resulting in equal self-esteem across church status groups.
AB - Lesbian, gay, bisexual and same-sex-attracted (LGB/SSA) individuals in conservative religions often experience stigma, shame, and psychological distress in reconciling their religious and sexual identities, yet religion can also provide existential comfort and social support. We investigated relationships among self-esteem, participation in the Mormon Church, and sexual identity acceptance among 348 LGB/SSA Mormons and ex-Mormons in 2013–2014 and found that the two groups reported similar self-esteem. By testing plausible mediators (family support, gay/SSA identity acceptance, and agreement with Mormon Church policy prohibiting same-sex behaviour) through a path model, results revealed different pathways to self-esteem. Practicing LGB/SSA Mormons reported higher family support and lower gay/SSA identity acceptance than ex-Mormons, while those self-identifying as SSA but not gay reported lower gay/SSA identity acceptance. We suggest that religiously active Mormons demonstrate low self-acceptance of their gay/SSA identity while ex-Mormons suffer loss of familial and social support, resulting in equal self-esteem across church status groups.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85042928902&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85042928902&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13674676.2018.1435634
DO - 10.1080/13674676.2018.1435634
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85042928902
SN - 1367-4676
VL - 20
SP - 1028
EP - 1041
JO - Mental Health, Religion and Culture
JF - Mental Health, Religion and Culture
IS - 10
ER -