47PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF PERSONS WITH A HOMOSEXUAL ORIENTATION
Kamsheko Katerina,
PhD student, Faculty of Psychology, Department of Social Psychology, Taras Shevchenko National
university of Kyiv, Ukraine
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7943-2620
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31435/rsglobal_ijitss/30092020/7172
ABSTRACT
The article analyzes the social and psychological factors of psychological well-being of the individual. The results of psychological well-being between homosexuals and heterosexuals were examined and compared. The complexity of studying the phenomenon of psychological well-being is due to the fact that the mechanism of its formation is in the social environment and in the inner world of man. An attempt is made to reveal their essence on the basis of researches in world and national science. The components that provide positive personality functioning are analyzed and investigated: autonomy, environmental management, personal growth, positive relationships with others, presence of life goals and self-acceptance. Psychological well-being of the individual is considered as an integral indicator of the degree of realization of the personality of one's own orientation, which is subjectively manifested in feelings of happiness, satisfaction with life and oneself. It is concluded that this phenomenon touches on all aspects of people's lives, both homo- and hetero-orientations, and therefore, a person with any sexual orientation is capable of self-actualization, self-development, life satisfaction and the exercise of one's choice.
Citation: Kamsheko Katerina. (2020) Psychological Well-Being of Persons with a Homosexual Orientation. International Journal of Innovative Technologies in Social Science. 6(27). doi: 10.31435/rsglobal_ijitss/30092020/7172
Copyright: © 2020 Kamsheko Katerina. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Introduction. The problem of homosexual orientation and same-sex love is one of the most discussed issues, both in society and in science. In recent years, there have been changes in sexual behavior and sexual morality, which according to I. S. Kon are due to the socio-cultural changes that are manifested in the sphere of sexual and erotic values. The phenomena accompanying these changes, namely the narrowing of the sphere of what is prohibited in culture, the popularization of non-traditional forms of sexual behavior, the cultivation of tolerance towards the other, and therefore tolerance towards unusual forms of sexuality, have exacerbated many of the problems faced by persons with heterosexual and homosexual orientations. First of all, this manifests itself in the process of the formation of a new system of values, criteria of the so-called new normality, gender identification, etc. Positive human functioning (with various clarifications) has always been the subject of psychological science. In modern studies, positive human functioning is primarily associated with psychological well-being and peculiar issues associated with it (subjective, psychological, eudemonistic, hedonistic, and other well-being).
The object of the research is the phenomenon of homosexual orientation.
The subject matter is the features of the psychological well-being of a person with a homosexual orientation.
ARTICLE INFO
Received 18 July 2020 Accepted 21 August 2020 Published 30 September 2020
KEYWORDS
psychological well-being, life satisfaction, homosexuals, heterosexuals, psychological factors, personal growth.
The aim is to find out the factors of psychological well-being of homosexual and heterosexual orientated people.
Materials and Methods. In research, such methods as Ryff s Psychological Well-being Scales (adaptation of T. D. Shevelenkova and P. P. Fesenko), mathematical and statistical data processing were used.
Results. The most common attempts to define the essence of psychological well-being are associated with hedonistic and eudemonistic paradigms. Within the hedonistic tradition (N. Bradburn [10], E. Diener [5] et al) attention is focused on subjective well-being as the dominance of positive affect over negative and on life satisfaction. In the eudemonistic tradition, it is emphasized that psychological well-being exists as a measure of a person's realization of aspects of positive functioning (M. Jahoda, C. Ryff, A. S. Waterman, et al). In recent years, there has been a tendency to combine hedonistic and eudemonistic approaches to the problem of psychological well-being (R. Biswas-Diener, T. B. Kashdan, L. A. King, R. Ryan, E. Deci [6], T. D. Shevelenkova, P. P. Fesenko [5], et al). In the context of this third approach, psychological well-being is interpreted as an indicator of the degree of focus on the implementation of the main components of positive functioning and a measure of the realizability of this directionality (which is subjectively expressed in the dominance of positive affect, satisfaction with oneself and life). A lot of works within both hedonistic and eudemonistic paradigms are devoted to the issue of psychological well-being factors. In particular, among the latter I. Boniwell included optimism, extroversion, social connections, professional growth, social status, subjective health, etc. [2, 55]. The concept of C. Ryff (based on the ideas of humanistic and existential psychology) says that a person has free will and the ability to achieve psychological well-being, despite external conditions [1, 6-8]. Therefore, according to S. Riff, psychological well-being is based on the positive functioning of the personality and is a basic subjective construct that reflects the perception and assessment of one's functioning from the point of view of the peak of the potential of a person's capabilities [3, 82-84].
Discussion. According to the model we have developed, subjective well-being contains three components: affective (life satisfaction, positive/negative affect, kindness), motivational-behavioral (having life goals, personal growth, independence, stimulation, achievements, power, control, traditions, conformity, universalism, security), communicative (relationships with one's people, one's people management, social trust). The study also took into account socio-demographic variables (age, gender, education, marital status, surroundings).
Sex as a factoring variable is used like a filter through which psychological variables influence subjective well-being. As a result, data on the subjective well-being of persons with a homosexual orientation were obtained, its features were determined in comparison with persons with a heterosexual orientation.
Positive relationships with people important for a particular personality, personal growth and self-development, life goals presence, self-acceptance, environmental management, autonomy: all these factors were used to determine the level of content components for individual's psychological well-being according to the Ryff s Psychological Well-being Scales technique, which is designed as a multi-factor questionnaire. Interpretation of the results according to the general and six main scales of the technique allows us to highlight the peculiarities of the respondents' from the studied groups subjective well-being.
Altogether 177 people took part in the research. All of them are citizens of Ukraine and have permanent residence on the territory of Ukraine. Of these, 91 men and 86 women aged from 18 to 50 years. The sample is divided into 4 age groups: 1) from 18 to 20 years old; 2) from 21 to 30 years old; 3) from 31 to 40 years old; 4) from 41 to 50 years old. The main differentiating criterion of the sample is the respondents' sexual orientation, namely: 63 people with heterosexual orientation (of which 26 are men and 37 are women); 114 people with homosexual orientation (including 65 men and 49 women).
The following results were gained due to the comparison of the groups with homosexual and heterosexual individuals in terms of the components that determine the psychological well-being level (according to the K. Riff' s technique).
According to the ANOVA (analysis of variance) indicators, we can conclude that there are significant differences behind the average values of the environmental management indicator. High values for this parameter mean that a person has the power and competence in environmental management, can control and monitor external activities, effectively uses all opportunities to achieve
one's goals and in ideas implementation. A low score indicates that a person is experiencing difficulties in organizing one's daily life, feels unable to change circumstances, does not have the ability to adequately assess the existing and potential opportunities, and cannot control the events taking place around him/her.
The analysis of the psychological well-being components shows that, in general, the sample has a large results variability according to the following parameters: a) positive relationships with others: the difference between the maximum (69) and minimum (30) estimates indicates a high variability of results; b) autonomy: the difference between the maximum (72) and minimum (34) estimates indicates a high variability of results; c) environmental management: the difference between the maximum (78) and minimum (26) estimates indicates a high variability of results; d) personal growth: the difference between the maximum (78) and minimum (18) estimates indicates a high variability of results; e) goals in life: the difference between the maximum (51) and minimum (9) estimates indicates a high variability of results; f) self-acceptance: the difference between the maximum (145) and minimum (44) estimates indicates a high variability of results. In addition, this difference is the largest among the psychological well-being components; therefore, the respondents showed the most diverse results by the self-acceptance parameter.
The integral indicator of the person's psychological well-being seems to include all components assessments: the difference between the maximum (447) and minimum (192) estimates is the diversity results indicator, which is 255 units. This indicates a high variability of the obtained results.
For a more detailed analysis, the above procedure was repeated taking the subjects' sexual orientation as a factorizing variable (Table 1).
Table 1. Variation in the manifestation of the psychological well-being components depending on sexual preferences_____
Hetero men Gays Hetero women Lesbians
min max min max min max min max
Positive relationships with others 30 68 40 69 41 69 30 67
Autonomy 51 69 39 69 34 69 34 72
Environmental management 46 77 42 77 26 77 26 78
Personal growth 41 77 34 77 18 77 18 78
Goals in life 24 51 23 51 9 51 9 49
Self-acceptance 88 145 69 145 44 145 44 144
Psychological well-being 265 426 221 426 192 426 192 447
Based on the presented numerical values, preliminary conclusions can be drawn regarding the distribution of psychological well-being components assessments depending on sexual preferences. Thus, according to the parameter of positive relations with others, the maximum estimates were distributed almost at the same level in all studied groups. The difference is 1-2 points, which in the general interpretation does not have significant statistical and meaningful content. According to the autonomy parameter, the smallest difference in assessments belongs to men with a heterosexual orientation. This means that this group of subjects showed the most uniform results. The largest difference in values belongs to lesbians, who showed the most diverse results on this parameter. In terms of environmental control, the maximum scores for all groups of subjects are the same. Women, regardless of sexual preference, got the largest difference between the maximum and minimum marks. This result is also observed in terms of personal growth: the upper limit of assessments is the same for all groups, and women's assessments took up position in the widest range. According to having goals in life indicator, the results were divided into two identical groups depending on gender. Therefore, for men, the minimum limit of assessments turned out to be higher, that is, the range of diversity of this feature manifestation is narrower. However, women are characterized by a wider variety of this psychological well-being component assessment.
A similar picture is observed among women in the parameter of self-acceptance: they have a lower limit of minimum ratings and, in general, their results are distributed over a wider range of values. The most similar results in this case are characterized by a group of men with a heterosexual
orientation. The integral indicator of the individual's psychological well-being level is characterized by the greatest variety of results. Therefore, hetero men, gay men, and hetero women have the same upper bound for ratings. On the other hand, lesbians received a significantly higher limit of maximum ratings. At the same time, both groups of women are characterized by a common lower bound of estimates, which is lower than the same male one. That is, in terms of psychological well-being, hetero men have the closest results, and lesbians have the most diverse results.
Several significant relationships were also revealed as a result of the correlation analysis between sexual orientation and psychological well-being components (Table 2).
Table 2. The value of the Pearson correlation coefficient between sexual orientation and psychological well-being components___
Autonomy -0,272 0,031
Environmental management -0,358 0,004
Personal growth -0,279 0,027
Self-acceptance -0,286 0,023
Notice: p < 0,05
In general, it can be concluded that women have lower scores on the positive relationships with others indicator. At the same time, heterosexuals have better results than homosexuals (Table 3).
Table 3. Distri jution of the positive relationships with others scale results
Low Decreased Medium Increased High
Hetero men 3 7 8 3 4
Gays 6 30 11 3 4
Hetero women 8 10 7 5 5
Lesbians 12 9 21 8 0
Total 29 56 47 19 13
So, as can be seen from the table, most of the respondents have a decreased level by the positive relationships with others indicator. A slightly smaller number received a medium level. Among hetero women, there was the greatest number of maximum results. At the same time, there were more low ratings among lesbians. This means that, in general, to have positive relationships with people around you - colleagues, acquaintances, friends, etc. - is important for a smaller number of respondents. Most of them mainly focus on other components' importance.
Autonomy was considered as the next component of psychological well-being (Table 4).
Table 4. Distribution of the autonomy scale results
Low Decreased Medium Increased High
Hetero men 0 2 17 3 4
Gays 4 14 27 16 4
Hetero women 3 18 4 7 5
Lesbians 7 9 14 14 5
Total 14 43 62 40 18
It should be noted that homosexual orientation representatives are more aspire to autonomy. That is, gays and lesbians tend to be more self-reliant and independent. It is important for them to be able to resist the attempts of society to impose an acceptable to the majority point of view and behavior. In real life, this feature is very vividly embodied in a variety of actions; in particular, inequality marches are becoming more and more popular in our country. It is also obvious that respondents with a heterosexual orientation are more inclined to go with the flow or to act depending on current life circumstances.
Table 5. Distribution of the environment management scale resu lts
Low Decreased Medium Increased High
Hetero men 2 4 10 8 2
Gays 3 31 12 11 8
Hetero women 20 2 3 10 2
Lesbians 10 6 6 11 16
Total 35 43 31 40 28
Of the results shown in Table 5, the highest are for lesbians and the lowest are for hetero women. Men with different sexual preferences have similar results. Therefore, lesbians strive for power and have developed competencies in environmental management, and can also control external activities. On the other hand, heterosexual women are less able to use current circumstances to achieve their goals. They do not feel the strength to change and improve these circumstances; it can seriously affect their life. Such women are more likely to go with the flow and obey the decision of others.
Table 6. Distribution of the personal growth scale results
Low Decreased Medium Increased High
Hetero men 0 5 7 12 2
Gays 1 22 22 17 3
Hetero women 4 16 2 13 2
Lesbians 5 12 9 16 7
Total 10 55 40 58 14
Interesting tendencies are observed in the personal growth parameter study (Table 6). Heterosexual men and lesbians found the most powerful desire to realize their potential. At the same time, it should be emphasized that women with different sexual preferences are about to the same extent of self-development striving and have an indifference tendency and lack of interest in their own lives.
According to the obtained results, all sexual preference representatives depicted in our study have similar trends in the field of goal setting and realizing (Table 7). According to the normal distribution phenomenon, most of the respondents have an average result. That is, they can have a life purpose, find meaning in the past and present life, but have difficulties in determining the actual strategies of life. A small peculiarity is that heterosexual women and heterosexual men have more cases of increased incidence. That is, heterosexuals are more characterized by a sense of direction and the presence of hopes and goals for life.
Table 7. Distribution of the goa s in life scale results
Low Decreased Medium Increased High
Hetero men 0 4 11 9 2
Gays 0 14 33 15 3
Hetero women 4 4 26 11 2
Lesbians 1 15 16 10 7
Total 5 37 86 35 14
An important component of psychological well-being is the self-acceptance scale (Table 8). A high score on this scale characterizes a person as such, which has a positive attitude towards himself/herself, perfectly knows and accepts his/her various sides and, in general, positively evaluates his/her past. It is noteworthy that none of the respondents received the maximum score for this indicator. This means that in all respondents there are certain tendencies towards dissatisfaction with themselves, disappointment with their past actions, and the like. In lesbians, this trend is less pronounced.
Table 8. Distribution of the self-acceptance scale ^ results
Low Decreased Medium Increased High
Hetero men 0 3 13 12 0
Gays 1 5 45 17 0
Hetero women 4 16 3 13 0
Lesbians 5 10 14 16 0
Total 10 34 75 58 0
Pursuant to the integral indicator - the general level of psychological well-being (according to K. Riff) - hetero-men received higher results. Among them, no respondents with the lowest possible indicator were found (Table 9).
Table 9. Distribution of the psychological well-being scale results
Low Decreased Medium Increased High
Hetero men 0 3 14 8 1
Gays 4 9 40 11 1
Hetero women 4 16 3 12 2
Lesbians 6 10 14 14 5
Total 14 38 71 45 9
Conclusions. Summarizing psychological well-being components results analysis, it is possible to make a generalized portrait of the representative from each of the subject groups.
A heterosexual man considers his life quite suitable for the ideal, in his life, everything develops according to his dreams and hopes. He is used to perceiving life circumstances as such that have an extremely positive effect on the development of his life; moreover, he uses them as fully as possible to achieve goals. A hetero man believes that all things, events, people in his life are necessary for him and will find their purpose. At the same time, a hetero man wants to somewhat change the course of past events, strives for self-improvement, knows how to set and realize goals, and, in general, has a high level of psychological well-being.
Gays also believe that their life is in line with the ideal and accept the circumstances of life solely as an additional opportunity to achieve their goals and objectives. In addition, they are quite content with their lives and do not show a desire to change past events. Just like a hetero man, a gay person considers everything that is present in his life to be really necessary components. A person with a homosexual orientation actively seeks to have autonomy in their actions and, in general, is characterized by an average level of psychological well-being.
A heterosexual woman believes that not all the circumstances of her life are favorable, yet some of them have a destructive effect on the development of her life path. At the same time, she believes that everything that is present now in her life is useful and necessary. A heterosexual woman does not want to change something in a past life. She also seeks to have positive relationships with people around her, tends to listen to the opinions of others, while not having the intention to defend her own. The hetero woman tends to set goals and is characterized by an average level of psychological well-being.
The lesbian has a minimal similarity of the real life to the desired ideal, emphasizes the unfavorable circumstances of life, and would not refuse to change somewhat in a past life. At the same time, she wants autonomy and seeks to control the environment. The lesbian tends to take steps for personal growth.
The study of a positive human functioning is the characteristic feature of modern psychology. The most important construct that characterizes positive human functioning is psychological well-being. Attempts to comprehend it led to the emergence of its various types (subjective, psychological, eudemonistic, hedonistic, etc.). With all this, the problem of determining specific psychological meanings, determinants, forms, and types of these phenomena remains relevant, which will become the subject of our further research.
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