Date of Award
Summer 2006
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
de St. Aubin, Ed.
Second Advisor
Grych, John
Third Advisor
Oswald, Debra
Abstract
How do multiple factors come together to influence the developmental paths of lesbians living in the United States? The current study, working from an integrated theoretical perspective, will consider how lesbian self development is simultaneously person and environmentally influenced. Scholarship focusing on lesbian self development will provide the theoretical foundation for this empirical examination. Individual characteristics such as chronological age, internal feelings, and attractions will be considered. In addition, the question of how general developmental experiences differ as a function of a woman's sociohistorical environment will also be considered. For the purposes of this investigation, the environmental surround will be defined through sociohistorical context. That is, historical differences in the social milieu in the United States that have resulted in changing social contexts for lesbians. The result is a truly integrative approach to understanding lesbian self development...