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A Typology of Intergenerational Relationships Between Taiwanese Gay and Bisexual Men And Their Parents: Negotiating Outness and Co-residence in Chinese Families

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Abstract

Introduction

Previous research has utilized a typological approach to characterizing intergenerational relationships and exploring their associations with children’s socioemotional outcomes. This study applied this method to Taiwanese gay and bisexual men via a tentative typology constituted by two conditions: co-residence with, and outness to, parent(s). Aside from describing the prevalence of different types of living arrangement, we further examined their links with the internal drivers, filial piety and internalized homophobia, and life satisfaction. Age group difference and the moderation effect of typology on the association between internal drivers and life satisfaction were also investigated.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was completed by a sample of Taiwanese gay and bisexual men recruited via Facebook. Besides reporting their co-residence and outness status, respondents also completed the Contemporary Filial Piety Scale, Chinese Internalized Homophobia Scale, and Satisfaction with Life Scale. Descriptive statistics, ANCOVA, and moderation analysis were performed for young adults and early middle-aged adults separately.

Results

While half of the total sample lived with parents, more than half (65.5%) were not out to them. Comparison of categories shows that closeted young adults reported significantly stronger internalized homophobia. Among early middle-aged men, those who were not out to and living with parent(s) reported the highest filial obligations and lowest life satisfaction compared with other groups.

Conclusions

This study contributes to existing knowledge about various forms of family environments and the ways they are involved in Taiwanese gay and bisexual men’s lives. Implications for the use of this typology in social policy and practice are discussed

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Data Availability

The dataset associated with this study contains confidential information of the study respondents and is unavailable for the public.

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Funding

This study is supported by Research Grant Council Early Career Scheme (#27616418).

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Correspondence to Yu-Te Huang.

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Ethical Approval

This study was reviewed and approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee (Reference #: EA1904014).

Informed Consent

All survey respondents were fully informed of the study purpose, procedure, potential risks, and compensation arising from this study. They clicked the button “I agree to participate” on the frontpage of the online survey to grant their consent.

Code Availability

The code applied in the statistical analysis is available by request.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest

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Chan, R.C.H., Huang, YT. A Typology of Intergenerational Relationships Between Taiwanese Gay and Bisexual Men And Their Parents: Negotiating Outness and Co-residence in Chinese Families. Sex Res Soc Policy 19, 295–307 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-021-00542-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-021-00542-5

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