Homosexuality, Essentialism and Identity in the Discourse of Homosexual and Heterosexual Men
Published:
Dec 15, 2017
Keywords:
Essentialism homosexuality identity discursive psychology rhetoric
Abstract
Essentialism of social categories and its consequences on intergroup relations constitute one of the most popular research topics in social psychology. Drawing upon the relevant literature, the present study explores essentialist and de-essentialist representations about homosexual men and their identity functions in discourse. Sixteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight men who identified themselves as homosexual and eight men who identified themselves as heterosexual. Interviews were analyzed by the use of the principles of discursive psychology and rhetoric. Analysis indicated the coexistence of essentialist and de-essentialist representations of homosexuality in the discourse of both groups as a result of the negotiation and reconceptualization of naturalness, historical stability and normality of social categories. However, similar essentialist representations –such
as the historical stability of homosexuality– perform different intergroup functions, whereas different entitative representations perform common intergroup functions in the discourse of homosexual and heterosexual participants.
Article Details
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Μίχος Ι., & Φίγγου Λ. (2017). Homosexuality, Essentialism and Identity in the Discourse of Homosexual and Heterosexual Men. Psychology: The Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 22(2), 71–89. https://doi.org/10.12681/psy_hps.23256
- Issue
- Vol. 22 No. 2 (2017)
- Section
- RESEARCH PAPERS
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