Essay Sample on Exploring Spiritual Experiences of LGBTQ+ College Students

Introduction

Identity has always been considered an essential aspect of human nature. Through identification, people can develop values, beliefs, and characters necessary in our social life. In the article, "Identity Interaction: Exploring the Spiritual Experiences of Lesbian and Gay College Students," Love, Bock, Jannarone, and Richardson (2005), explored the different experiences of 5 gay males and 7 lesbian college students in spirituality and tried to identify how their differing sexual orientations contributed to their development through experiences. While this article offers critical information to signify the influence of sexual orientation in spiritual growth among the lesbian and gay males in college, there are limitations related to the sample size, conclusions, as well as the generalization of findings.

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Love et al. (2005) applied a sample size of 12 individuals, including seven lesbian and five gay male college students, to explore their spiritual experiences. The researchers questioned the participants and tried to understand the impact of their sexual orientation on spiritual development. Conducted from a paradigmatic constructivist stance to deliver descriptive analyses and understanding, Love et al. (2005) found out that the students faced difficulties developing their identity due to the marginalization of the gay, lesbian and bisexual communities by society. Precisely, five of the participants in the study had reconciled their sexual orientation and spirituality. Others were actively dealing with their spiritual and sexual identity, while the rest had not yet dealt with spiritual and sexual identity.

However, as researchers used relationships with facets of organized religion such as the Roman Catholic Church, this provided a substantive opinion based on the nature of their study. At the introduction of the study, Love et al. (2015) clarified that the growing emphasis on spirituality has been a significant challenge for the lesbian and gay individuals and decided to consider the mainstream religions. Further, this relationship with organized religion helped identify religion as a primary element for most human experiences relating to spirituality, spiritual development, and spiritual identity altogether. Moreover, in the finding related to the relationship between sexual orientation and spirituality, the researchers provided supported opinions. For example, Love et al. (2015) concluded that most of the students discuss religion and spirituality interchangeably. The findings are supported by research from Helminiak (1996), who indicates how sexuality is related to the tripartite notion of human experience - organism, psyche, and spirit. Also, with the inclusion of the process of reconciliation in the research, this provided a collection of substantive opinions. Throughout the discussion, experiences contributing to the reconciliation process are included in the study as a unique dynamic to explore the interaction between sexual and spiritual identity based on experiences.

Nonetheless, as a biased opinion, the research concluded that self-acceptance of sexual identity was crucial in spiritual development. Some participants who had accepted their sexual identity looked like they had matured spiritually, unlike other participants who had not yet accepted their sexual identity. It was because of the free expression of sexual identity that enabled spiritual development. However, one may end up in a state of denial not solely based on sexuality but also other aspects such as race and issue affecting the LGBT community as a whole. Therefore, such opinions make it hard to conclude that a lack of self-acceptance is based solely on sexual identity.

Critique of the Article

Even though significant results were noted in this study, there are limitations to the results. For instance, the results are not entirely reliable since the sample size was small to draw the given conclusions. With a group of 12 college students, it can only be hard to generalize the findings to represent a large population scale and could deliver biased results for any generalization. Also, the participants in this study were from two public universities in the Midwestern state, which limits the generalization of the results. However, a larger sample would be better, with diversity in the group based on demographics, age, and culture.

In a critique of the authors' perspective, the conclusions point out the complexities of interaction between sexual identity and spiritual identity. However, ethnicity and race are not a factor in the study, given the racial homogeneity of the participants. Inclusion of ethnicity and race in spiritual and religious issues is likely to offer new levels of complexity, particularly in identity interaction. Drawing from the conclusions of Helminiak (1996), he notes that sexual integration is always achieved in the "sex-positive" cultures, unlike the United States, which has a highly sex-negative culture. Given the unavoidability of having sexuality interact with spirituality, development, integration, and authenticity; sexual identity may be challenged. Hence, Love et al. (2015) conclusions can be challenged since humans will grow from any challenges presented to them based on their attitude and how they deal with the problem. It could, therefore, be better if the researchers showed how the participants grew from the specific challenge presented to them on sexuality.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Love et al. (2015) provide vital information on identity interaction, looking at the experience of some of the LGBT members concluding that sexual identity may determine the spiritual development of an individual. However, the small sample size, lack of diversity, and elimination of the entire LGBT community in the study limit the generalizability of the results. In the future, it is critical to consider a larger sample size and more aspects since subjectivity could hinder the attainment of reliable results on identity interaction.

References

Helminiak, D. A. (1996). The human core of spirituality: Mind as psyche and spirit. Albany: SUNY Press.

Love, P., Bock, M., Jannarone, A., & Richardson, P. (2005). Identity interaction: Exploring the spiritual experiences of lesbian and gay college students. Journal of college student development, 46(2), 193-209.