| Abstract: | Abstract
This research aimed to investigate the social support and the well-being status of various sexual orientations, and the impact of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals (LGB) coming out experience towards well-being and social support status. The main participants of this study are Taiwanese adults who age 20 and above. After data cleaning, 307 valid data were analyzed, including 130 males and 177 females; the majority of participants, 225 people (73.3%) are in the ages of 20-30 years old, followed by 70 participants (22.8%) in the ages of 31-44 years old, and 12 participants in the ages of 45-64 years old; 51 participants identified as bisexual (16.6%), 88 participants identified as homosexual (28.7%), and 168 participants identified as heterosexual (54.7 %). Descriptive statistics, Person’s product-moment correlation, one- way ANOVA, independent sample t-test, and multiple stepwise regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The results were concluded as follows:
1. There is a significant and positive correlation between social support and well-being.
2. There are no significant correlations between sexual orientations and social support or sexual orientations and well-being.
3. Coming out experience can significantly predict social support and well-being; that means, the more positive coming out experience, the better perceived social support and well-being.
4. There are significant positive correlation between the people’s attitudes toward coming out and the impact of coming out experiences to LGB individuals; that means, the more supportive of people’s attitudes toward coming out, the more positive feelings experienced by LGB individuals. As to people’s attitudes toward coming out, friends were perceived as the most supportive, then siblings and school counselors, followed by parents and classroom teachers who are perceived as neither supportive nor antagonistic.
5. In the situations of willing to come out, friends will be the first choice for LGB individuals, followed by siblings, and parents as the third choice.
Future research directions and recommendations for educational and clinical practice are discussed. |
