Talk on Quality of Life among Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual people

We are excited to welcome Rusi Jaspal (he/him), Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research & Knowledge Exchange), Professor of Psychology at the University of Brighton, and Royal Holloway alumni, for this talk on quality of life among lesbian, gay and bisexual people. This event is open to all Royal Holloway staff and students.

There are many factors that can undermine quality of life among lesbian, gay and bisexual people. These include exposure to minority stressors, such as prejudice, discrimination, and internalised stigma. Minorities within minorities, such as lesbian, gay and bisexual people who are also ethnic minorities, face additional challenges. However, there are also many protective factors, such as the development of identity resilience and access to social support, that can enhance quality of life.

This lecture will outline an integrative model based on identity process theory from social psychology to illustrate ways in which lesbian, gay and bisexual people navigate the challenges that they encounter, including those specific to their sexual orientation, and how they can be supported to derive higher quality of life. The lecture will include reference to various quantitative and qualitative empirical studies that have been conducted focusing on aspects of quality of life among lesbian, gay and bisexual people, including life satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, mental health, and degree of outness.