Graduation Year

2021

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Psychology

Reader 1

Jennifer Groscup

Reader 2

Theodore Bartholomew

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a form of abuse that originates not only from a desire to assert and exercise dominance over an intimate partner but is also reinforced and exacerbated by the existence of multi-identity discrimination and prejudice-driven behaviors. The demographic on which this study will focus will be members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Past research into intimate partner violence have historically excluded sexual minority groups, creating an erasure of experience. A projected sample of (N=1,000), 500 LGBTQIA+ and 500 heteronormative participants, will be recruited through purposive sampling. Both a quantitative, natural-groups survey design will be implemented along with a more qualitative methodology in the form of one-on-one interviews post-survey. These approaches will be used in an effort to understand IPV prevalence rates and subsequent effects onto members of the LGBTQIA+ community, while simultaneously exposing the existence, influence and ramifications of identity-based abuse on health-seeking behavior.

The proposed study’s data will confirm three distinct main hypotheses, firstly, that LGBTQIA+ participants will score more highly than cisgender, heterosexual participants on assessments of sexual stigmatization, identity abuse, and minority stress. Secondly, that LGBTQIA+ participants who score highly within these variables will be less likely to exercise help-seeking behavior when compared to cisgender, heterosexual participants. Finally, participants who identify as belonging to a sexual or gender minority group will experience significantly higher levels of IPV compared to cisgender, heterosexual folks.

This study seeks to reinforce as well as expand on past work in order to create a more comprehensive understanding of the multiplicity and intersectionality of sexual and gender identities. This research is crucial to not only providing additional conclusions to the existing psychological scholarship, but also as a means for exposing the disparities of care that exist within law enforcement and health care.

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