Abstract
The psychological basis of homophobia (Madureira, Integr Psych Behav, 2007, doi:10.1007/s12124-007-9024-9) analyzes the relationships between sexuality, gender, culture and power as they relate to the phenomena of homophobia. Two theoretical models, the Semiotic Regulatory System and the two processes of Heimweh and Fernweh, are employed to demonstrate the embodiment of homophobic prejudices internalized through affective meaning making processes. These models are integrated in a self-organizational approach to describe in more detail top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top processes, which embody homophobic prejudices with sexual orientations and a sense of identity. The same case proposed by Madureira is chosen to be reinterpreted, and clarify the new distinctions that could be part of strategies of intervention against homophobia.
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Notes
Internalization is the process of analysis of externally existing semiotic materials and their synthesis in the novel form in the intrapsychological domain.
Externalization is the process of analysis of intrapsychologically existing (subjective) personal–cultural materials during their transposition from inside to outside of the person, and the modification of the external environment as a form of new synthesis of these materials.
“the meaning-making processes: (a) express the unit of cognition and affect; (b) relate to the flow of personal experiences; (c) the internal relational have to be in tension {A and non-A} to be transformed” p. 25.
See example p. 25–27.
See example of p. 32 for a more clear understanding of how this theory is being used.
“Although, sometimes, I have had the desire to tell, I thought it would be better not to… you do not know how the person will react, you will endanger one friendship for millions of years through one a small detail or another small detail, I think it is not important”.
“If there is a necessity, I will tell, but if there is not, I think I will not… there is no motive. I do not feel pressure from them related to a girlfriend, for example. So there is no need to tell”.
For instance the achievement of a fourth order of consciousness according to Kegan.
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Acknowledgment
I want to thank Erik la Chapelle for his invaluable corrections of my poor English. I hope that thanks to him my ideas (thought and developed in Spanish language) will be better understood.
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Iborra, A. Dealing with Homosexuality in a Homophobic Culture: A Self-Organization Approach. Integr. psych. behav. 41, 285–295 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-007-9030-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-007-9030-y