Using the communication theory of identity to examine identity negotiation among LGBTQ+ college students with multiple conflicting salient identities

ABSTRACT

We conducted in-depth interviews with 20 LGBTQ+ college students about their salient identities and identity negotiation strategies framing their experiences of negotiating identity gaps that created conflicts between their salient identities using the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI). Participants engaged in three main identity negotiation strategies including identity compartmentalization, gap reconciliation, and ignoring the gap. We developed a model showing the processes of identity negotiation. This study offers a greater understanding of how LGBTQ+ college students communicatively make sense of their various identities and how scholars, practitioners, and college student personnel can contribute to LGBTQ+ college students’ psychosocial well-being.

KEYWORDS:

• Communication theory of identity (CTI)
• identity gaps
• identity negotiation
• conflicting salient identities
• LGBTQ+ college students
• LGBTQ+ identity

Acknowledgments

This manuscript is based on the first author’s honor’s project directed by the second author. The authors thank the Honors College and the Center of Undergraduate Research and Scholarships (CURS) at Bowling Green State University for their financial support of the honor’s project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Viet D. Trinh

Viet (Mason) Trinh is the Health Program Coordinator of Lighthouse Social Enterprise in Vietnam. In 2020, he graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. His interests include mixed-method methodology, identity negotiation, intersectionality, internalized stigma, and LGBTIQ+ health. His research, scientific and community-based, has been featured in a number of regional and international conferences and peer-reviewed journals. Also, he has been a prominent mental health advocate in Vietnam and the Asia Pacific region, generating political awareness of and policy changes for the benefit of LGBTIQ+ people and high-HIV-risk populations’ mental well-being.

Sandra L. Faulkner

Sandra L. Faulkner is Professor of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University where she writes, teaches, and researches about close relationships. Faulkner’s interests include stigmatized identities, qualitative methodology, poetic inquiry, inclusive pedagogy, and critical perspectives on interpersonal and family communication. Her book, Poetic Inquiry: Craft, Method, & Practice (Routledge), won an Honorable Mention in the 2021 ICQI Book Award. She received the 2013 Knower Outstanding Article Award from the National Communication Association, the 2016 Norman K. Denzin Qualitative Research Award, the 2020 Trujillo and Goodall “It’s a Way of Life Award” in Narrative Ethnography, and the Legacy Award from the National Communication Association Ethnography Division. https://www.sandrafaulkner.online/ https://bgsu.academia.edu/SandraFaulkner