3-039 - The Adjustment of Young East Asian Sexual-Minority Individuals: A Focus on Family and Culture

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Sexual-minority individuals show poorer adjustment than heterosexual counterparts, yet most previous studies relied on samples from Western cultures. It is widely assumed that East Asian cultures hardly accept same-sex sexuality; consequently, same-sex sexuality may become a threat to family harmony, a core value of East Asian cultures. Therefore, it is important to understand how family and culture negotiate same-sex sexuality in an East Asian context. The four papers shed light on the roles of family and culture in family relationships, identify development, health, and stress reactivity and regulation among young East Asian sexual-minority individuals. Paper 1 presents a mixed-method study on the psychological effects of coming out as lesbian, gay, and bisexual in Japan, focusing on coming out to family members. Paper 2 uses data from a Canadian provincially representative survey to examine the effects of ethnic identity on family relationships for East Asian youths, particularly for sexual-minority youths. Paper 3 reports a qualitative study on the construction of sexual identity and ethnic identity among young Chinese immigrant gay men in Canada. Paper 4 examines how minority stress and Chinese cultural values affect physiological responses to social stress among young Chinese sexual-minority men. Bringing together quantitative and qualitative data from Canada, China, and Japan, this symposium challenges traditional views of East Asian cultural influences on the adjustment of sexual minorities and advances our understanding of family dynamics and stress coping among sexual minorities in East Asian cultures.

Sub Unit

• Sex, Gender

Chairs

• Gu Li, University of British Columbia

• Lixian Cui, New York University – Shanghai

Individual Presentations

• Psychological Effects of Coming Out on LGB Individuals in Japan: Quantitative and Qualitative Results - Presenting Author: Emiko Katsurada, Kwansei Gakuin University; Non-Presenting Author: Eri Yoshioka, Kwansei Gakuin University

• Ethnic Identity and Family Relationships Among East Asian Sexual-Minority and Heterosexual Adolescents in Canada - Presenting Author: Gu Li, University of British Columbia; Non-Presenting Author: Lixian Cui, New York University – Shanghai; Non-Presenting Author: Elizabeth M. Saewyc, University of British Columbia

• Fluid vs. Settled: Dual Identity Construction Among Chinese Immigrant Young Gay Men in Canada - Presenting Author: Yu-Te Huang, The University of Hong Kong

• Minority Stress, Cultural Values, and Physiological Responses to Social Stress Among Young Chinese Sexual-Minority Men - Presenting Author: Lixian Cui, New York University – Shanghai; Non-Presenting Author: Gu Li, University of British Columbia; Non-Presenting Author: Jingwei Xu, East China Normal University