Study of the coming out process and coping strategies of lesbian women
Published: 1979
Language: eng
Format: computer file
Subjects: Coming out (Sexual orientation); Lesbians
Description: The purpose of this study was to document the coming out process in lesbians and to create a seven-stage model to describe this process. Unlike other studies of lesbians, this study included African-American lesbians and older lesbians.

The sample comprised 118 women in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area. Eighteen of these women were evaluated as bisexual or predominantly heterosexual in orientation; these women were not included in the analysis of the data. One-fourth of the remaining 100 women who completed all the measures were African-American. One-half of the sample indicated no current religious affiliations and the remainder fit into the expected proportions of Catholics, Protestants, and Jews.

Between February and May, 1979, a team of six interviewers conducted personal interviews with the participants. These interviews consisted of 120 precoded questions and several open-ended questions. Major categories in the interviews include coming out, job discrimination, societal oppression, coping strategies, religion, personal attitudes, relating in a heterosexual society, and demographic information.

The Murray Center has all computer-accessible data. Typed responses to the open-ended questions are also available.
Notes: Sample characteristics: sample size: 101-500; time: 70s; race: White, African American, mixed; age: mixed; number of generations: 1; gender: female; ses: mixed.

Data collection methods: design: field study; length of data collection: na; measures: interview.

Follow-up possible: no; follow-up available: no.