Predictors and outcomes of initial coming out messages: testing the theory of coming out message production

ABSTRACT

Sexual orientation disclosure can result in both positive and negative consequences. Utilizing the theory of coming out message production (COMP; Li & Samp, 2018), this study explored when and how disclosure messages predict more positive reports of psychological well-being. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual participants (N = 251) reported their experiences of first ever coming out to others in face-to-face settings. Results showed that when people’s disclosure goals become more salient, they tend to perceive greater desire to change their current outness levels toward the disclosure receivers, which in turn predict higher degrees of disclosure. When people are highly motivated, their perceived relational power over receivers also positively predicts degrees of disclosure. Regardless of receivers’ reactions, greater salience of disclosure goals and higher degrees of disclosure predict fewer depressive symptoms and higher self-esteem. This study supports COMP and provides practical implications for when, to whom, and how individuals first come out.

KEYWORDS:

• Initial sexual orientation disclosure
• depression
• self-esteem
• sexual identity development
• theory of coming out message production

Acknowledgements

Yachao Li (M.A., Rutgers University, 2015) is a graduate research assistant in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Georgia (UGA) where Jennifer A. Samp (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1999) is a Professor. The authors thank Dr Jennifer Monahan, Dr Jiyeon So, and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on this project. This paper is a part of the first author’s dissertation project under the direction of the second author. The project is supported by the UGA Graduate School Dean’s Award and the Dissertation Completion Award.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Yachao Li http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8268-1935

Notes

1. Self-reflection of sexuality may evoke negative feelings such as stress, sadness, and shame; thus, participants may prefer a more private, safer way (i.e. online survey) to share their thoughts. Other sampling methods (e.g. snowball sampling, respondent-driven sampling) often require participants to be recruited by their peers. LGB individuals who are less involved within the LGB community may be excluded from the study. Thus, MTurk is an appropriate platform to recruit LGB participants (see Ryan et al., 2015).

2. Within-subjects ANOVAs compared goal salience means among the five specific disclosure goals. Results (see Table 1) showed that for the entire sample (N = 251), all goal salience variables were significantly different, Wilks’s Lambda = .38, F(3, 248) = 137.48, p < .001. Self-oriented goals were the most salient, followed by non-romantic relational goals, disclosure target-oriented goals, and task goals. The results were consistent among participants who were single at initial disclosure (n = 141), Wilks’s Lambda = .33, F(3, 138) = 93.45, p < .001. Among partnered respondents (n = 110), goal salience variables were significantly different, Wilks’s Lambda = .43, F(4, 106) = 34.85, p < .001. Task goals were significantly less salient than other disclosure goals. Together, task goals were consistently the least salient.

3. Although some variable means were significantly different as a function of receivers’ sex and sexual orientation, these two variables were not significant covariates in this study. Other non-significant covariates included participants’ sex, sexual orientation, race, current overall outness levels, and relationship status (i.e. single or partnered) at initial disclosure; receivers’ age at initial disclosure; and the length and types of the discloser-receiver relationships.