Are you an adult (18 years or older) who identifies as LGBTQ+ and attends an open, welcoming, and affirming church? If so, please consider participating in a research study. The purpose is to learn about LGBTQ+ people who have found a home in an inclusive, LGBTQ+ affirming congregation, because most other research on this topic has examined LGBTQ+ people who have left churches due to experiences with sexual prejudice.
Participation involves an online questionnaire, which includes an essay (a spiritual autobiography; see back). You will be offered a $15 honorarium for your participation.
To learn more about the study, please go to https://tinyurl.com/3B3SRWAY for a video introduction, or to https://tinyurl.com/2P93XY5T for a written description.
This project has been approved by the Dickinson College
IRB (protocol #1050).
If you have any questions, please contact Megan Yost (she/her), Associate Professor of Psychology and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA) at yostm@dickinson.edu or leave a message at (717) 798-0036
What to Expect on the Survey
When you open the survey, you will find scales to complete and a prompt asking you to write a spiritual autobiography.
Spiritual Autobiography Instructions
This essay explores your religious and spiritual journey, often in chronological order. You will be asked to focus on:
• how you have felt about religion/spirituality across your life,
• anything that has influenced those feelings (for example, family members, friends, a religious leader; milestones like graduating high school, births, deaths; social/political events).
To organize this essay, it can be helpful to think about your life as a series of chapters. Each chapter would be a paragraph long.
For a chronological organization, each chapter break might be marked by a change in your approach to religion/spirituality. Each chapter would describe how you thought about religion, spirituality, God, church, etc., during that specific time and until there is the next change.
For a thematic organization, each chapter might focus on an important belief that has shifted or has been affirmed for you. You could explore as many themes as are important to you.
Because this research study is about LGBTQ+ people’s experiences, please be sure to include any examples of times when your religious/spiritual beliefs and practices intersected with your sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
You can access the survey at this secure website: https://tinyurl.com/YS86Y6JB
