What We Got Wrong About Sexual Identity Development: Unexpected Findings From a Longitudinal Study of Young Women.

The process by which individuals with same-sex attractions (here denoted sexual minorities) come to conceive and present themselves as lesbian, gay, or bisexual has received extensive attention by social scientists over the past 30 years. This process, commonly called sexual identity develop' merit, has been a topic of particular interest with respect to sexual-minority youths. This body of research has given rise to a generalized portrait of sexual-minority development that is widely disseminated not only in social scientific journals but in publications geared toward psychotherapists, social workers, physicians, educators, and parents (e.g., Barber & Mobley, 1999; Fairchild & Hayward, 1979; Hollander, 2000; Meyer & Schwitzer, 1999; Ryan & Futterman, 1998). The stated aim of many of these publications is to raise awareness of the basic developmental process of sexual identity formation so that supportive adults can better facilitate this process among youths wrestling with nascent same-sex attractions.

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