Abstract
Although the Black Christian churches have historically been a safe haven for the majority of the African American community, African American Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) churchgoers experience a paradox because they are seeking out a religious ideology and institution as part of their psychological coping mechanism despite facing homonegativity within the same Black Christian church community. The purpose of the current study is to examine how internalized homonegativity among African American LGBT individuals might be mitigated by religious coping or their personal attitudes of seeking professional mental health support. Using a sample of 401 African American LGBT participants who were affiliated with a Black Christian at the time of the survey, the researchers found that the increasing levels of self-reported religious coping for meaning in life had a corresponding increase in the self-reported experience of internalized homonegativity. Moreover, increasing levels of self-reported internalized homonegativity were linked to an increasing reluctance seeking professional help for their experiences of psychological distress. In contrast, there was no relationship between religious coping and seeking professional help for their experiences of psychological distress. The results of the study are discussed in the context of prior research and recommendations for professional counseling for African American LGBT churchgoers.
Presenters
David GloverStudent, Doctor of Psychology - Human and Organizational Psychology, Touro University Worldwide, California, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2022 Special Focus—Traveling Texts: From Traditions to Religions
KEYWORDS
LGBT, Church, Christian, African America
