Research Paper Example: Bisexual Persons With the Symptoms of Coming Out Growth

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the experiences of bisexual persons with the symptoms of Coming Out Growth (COG) using the qualitative phenomenological approach. The researcher also focused on determining the bisexual identities within the positive psychology frameworks as demonstrated by those with the symptoms of Coming Out Growth (COG). Moreover, Brownfield et al. (2018, p.221) examined the experiences of bisexual individuals by focusing on COG and the possible factors that often lead to COG. 

Main Body

The study attempted to discover the coming out experiences of bisexual persons to help address the common challenges related to coming outgrowth experienced by such individuals. An example of the difficulties associated with coming out that the researcher opted to investigate is bi-negativity, which originates from heterosexual individuals and the LG community. According to the researcher, the previous studies on related topics have failed to examine the COG experiences for bisexual persons to frame the positive outcomes within the COG lens. 

Methodology

The study used qualitative phenomenological approaches to examine the experiences of COG bisexual individuals. The researcher collected data from 13 bisexual participants and recorded their descriptive data. The study was conducted by a team comprising a 25-year-old White Counseling Psychology doctoral student, a 24-year-old Malaysian-Indian Counseling psychology doctoral student, two master's level counseling White students aged 24 and 26 years, and a 32-year-old bicultural Armenian American Counseling Psychology Doctoral student. The research team also employed a 58-year-old African American cisgender woman and a professor of Counseling Psychology as the external auditor during the study. 

Procedure for the Study

The study began when the team members and the internal auditor discussed the possible assumptions and forecasted biases that could alter the study's findings before starting to collect data. The researcher team expected that the targeted bisexual individuals always feel invisible and disrespected compared to the other sexual minority individuals. The team also expected that cultural differences are likely to cause significant differences between the ability of siblings and friends to come out and the ability of the older family members. Finally, the research team expected multiple marginalized individuals to have more negative coming out experiences than the salient COG experiences. The researcher team continued with the discussions on potential assumptions and biases throughout the process of data analysis. The researchers collected data through interviews.

Procedures of Interviews

The researchers used semi-structural interviews to collect data whereby; the first and second authors iterated the questions while two experts were employed to establish the credibility of the iterated interview questions and finalize the questions. The research team conducted face-to-face interviews for the first two participants and phone interviews for the remaining 11 participants. The researchers recruited the 13 participants from their various groups such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer associations and through social platforms, for example, Facebook. The research team also contacted the racial community groups for recruitment to obtain an effective and more representative sample. Brownfield et al. (2018, p.222) also promoted gender diverse samples by using the organizations that serve bisexual men and transgender individuals to recruit more participants using snowball sampling recruitment techniques. The researchers distributed consent forms to the targeted participants to enhance ethical considerations. Participants were given two weeks to respond, and the researchers agreed with the study results. 

Inclusion Criteria

The targeted participants had to meet the following inclusion criteria:

• The participants had to be 18 years old or above

• The participants had to be self-identified as bisexual

• The participants must have experienced come outgrowth, including the positive growth changes

Data Analysis

The researchers conducted data analysis using the following steps:

• Bracketing involved providing a detailed description of the experiences, assumptions, and biases during the study. 

• The second step was to horizontalize the collected data, highlighting the significant statements from the interview transcripts. The researchers also reduced the statements into non-representative ideas.

• The third step involved developing the meaning units from the study results by grouping the invariant horizons into common themes. 

Results

The ages of participants ranged between 23 and 61 years, with nine participants being European American and the remaining 4 being Latin Americans. The researchers also found out that the three primary forms of participants with COG include; those living more authentically with improved mental health (intrapersonal growth), those with improved relationships and greater advocacy (interpersonal development), and those with greater awareness and oppression (improved critical consciousness). The researchers also found that various contextual factors reported by individuals with COG experiences include; bisexual role models, the effects of family support, the available resources to facilitate mental health treatment and afford education in higher learning institutions, and the sociopolitical factors. 

Summary and Conclusion

The information generated from the article effectively integrates with the data from class discussions and other research works. For example, just as the class discussions on the topic, the study results imply that therapists have the central roles in identifying and facilitating coming out growth experiences for bisexual persons. On the other hand, according to Pachankis et al. (2018, p.1381), bisexual persons often experience serious mental illness due to stress and depression, and such people require regular mental therapy and treatment. Moreover, such people need to learn in better institutions with adequate learning facilities and exposure to handle stressful conditions. The additional treatment and learning requirements make it necessary to have sufficient resources to facilitate the process. Wang and Feinstein (2020, p. 148) also agree that family support and bisexual role models play significant roles in determining the experience of bisexual persons with COG whereby lack of family support and negative attributes of role models give negative experiences while positive characteristics of role models and adequate family support are associated with a positive experience. Maliepaard (2018, p.164) emphasizes that previous discrimination experiences are also important contextual factors that determine the experiences of bisexual individuals with COG. 

The study is important/relevant because the findings illustrate the benefits of bisexual conditions and having positive changes in oneself. The study is also important since it highlights some important factors that should be considered to ensure positive changes in bisexual individuals, such as a positive cultural environment, adequate resources for learning, treatment, adaptation, and absence of discrimination. The study has not changed my opinion about the experiences of bisexual individuals with COG since the findings agree with my perspective about such individuals. I have always believed that bisexual individuals need additional care through regular mental treatment, learning in better schools, and being protected against discrimination due to their stressful conditions. I also believe that the study is well done since it mainly focuses on the different positive experiences of bisexual individuals with COG. Brownfield et al. (2018, p.223 p.) also used face-to-face and online interviews to obtain accurate data. The study was also well done because the researchers contacted the racial community groups to get an effective and more representative sample. The researchers also promoted gender diverse samples by using the organizations that serve bisexual men and transgender individuals to recruit more participants using snowball sampling. The researchers also delivered consent forms to the targeted participants to effectively implement ethical requirements. 

References

Brownfield, J. M., Brown, C., Jeevanba, S. B., & VanMattson, S. B. (2018). More than simply getting bi: An examination of coming outgrowth for bisexual individuals. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 5(2), 220.

Maliepaard, E. (2018). Disclosing bisexuality or coming out? Two different realities for bisexual people in the Netherlands. Journal of Bisexuality, 18(2), 145-167.

Pachankis, J. E., Sullivan, T. J., Feinstein, B. A., & Newcomb, M. E. (2018). Young adult gay and bisexual men’s stigma experiences and mental health: An 8-year longitudinal study. Developmental psychology, 54(7), 1381.

Wang, A. Y., & Feinstein, B. A. (2020). The perks of being bi+: Positive sexual orientation–related experiences among bisexual, pansexual, and queer male youth. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity.