Coping and career choices: Irish gay men’s passage from hopelessness to redemption

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the impact of systemic oppression on a marginalized group and their response to it through market-based choices of careers. The marginalized group consists of single, semi-closeted, middle-aged Irish gay men. Their lives have been severely impaired by the Catholic condemnation of homosexuality. Through an oral history approach and by considering the under-theorized intersection of religion, homosexuality, and career, our study shows the importance of the underlying process of coping. Our findings reveal that the study participants initially engaged in various forms of self-punishment amidst a state of hopelessness. This later led to their pursuit of altruistic careers through which they seemingly gained a sense of redemption. By delving into coping processes involving career choices, we show that altruism can be a means to cope with systemic oppression.

KEYWORDS:

• Coping
• choices
• career
• homosexuality
• altruism
• marginalization

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank the ACR-Sheth Foundation for their financial support (2019 ACR-Sheth Foundation Dissertation Grant). We also express our sincere gratitude to the Associate Editor and the three anonymous reviewers for their careful and constructive reviews on earlier drafts of our paper.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vikram Kapoor

Vikram Kapoor is a PhD candidate at the Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick. In 2019, his PhD dissertation won the ACR-Sheth Doctoral Dissertation Award in the Public Purpose track. His research interests are mainly in social-impact consumer research, art therapy, heterodox consumption, and the interaction of religion and consumption.

Russell W. Belk

Russell W. Belk is York University Distinguished Research Professor and Kraft Foods Canada Chair in Marketing at the Schulich School of Business. His research involves the extended self, meanings of possessions, collecting, gift-giving, sharing, digital consumption, and materialism. It tends to be qualitative, cultural, and visual. He has received the Paul D. Converse Award, two Fulbright Fellowships, the Sheth Foundation/Journal of Consumer Research Award for Long Term Contribution to Consumer Research, and is a fellow in ACR, APA, and the Royal Society of Canada.