Contextual Navigation: Towards a Holistic Conceptualization of Negotiating Sexual Identity in Context

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Emerging Adulthood

Volume

10

Issue

4

Publisher

Sage Publications, Inc.

Publication Date

4-26-2022

First Page

993

Last Page

1007

Abstract

The negotiation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) identities while navigating between LGBTQ+ and cis-heterodominant cultural contexts may parallel some processes observed in acculturation experiences within communities of color. 14 LGBTQ+ emerging adults (20–25 years) located within the United States participated in semi-structured individual interviews and focus groups aimed at exploring sexual identity negotiation. Findings yielded three major themes regarding negotiating sexual identity within context: 1) Awareness of Context, 2) Negotiation Behaviors (i.e., “Having a Foot in Both”; “Move it to the Back-burner”; Negotiating Identities within a Saliency Hierarchy; Cis-Heteronormative Scripts and Straight-Passing; Disclosure Methods), and 3) Acculturative Stress During Identity Negotiation. Using an interpretative phenomenological approach, the present study yielded the concept of contextual navigation to help explain the on-going adaptive process of negotiating one’s sexual identity across various U.S. sociocultural contexts. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

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