Blessing or burden? The role of appraisal for family rituals and flourishing among LGBT adults

Katja Hanke*, Marieke Christina van Egmond, Carla Crespo, Diana Boer

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Despite recent trends toward greater societal acceptance of LGBT individuals in many Western countries, the elevated chances of being confronted by rejection and hostility or fear are still likely to lead to detrimental psychological health outcomes for this population. The current study assesses how the family can be a resource for psychological well-being. Based on self-determination theory and the family ritual literature, we hypothesize that the various family rituals enhance the chances that the human need for relatedness will be satisfied and positively contribute to the degree to which the person flourishes in life. Second, we test which factors mediate this pathway. For this purpose, a 3-factorial scale (Family Ritual Appraisal Scale) that assesses the appraisal with which LGBT adults evaluate the participation in family rituals was developed. In a multiple-mediation analysis, 3 factors (inclusion of self, inclusion of partner, and sense of obligation) were found to mediate significantly the degree by which family rituals lead to higher levels of relatedness in the family and thereby to higher levels of flourishing. Together, the results suggest that it is meaningful to assess the ways in which family rituals are conducted and experienced by individual family members on the effects of family rituals on psychological well-being.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)562-568
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Family Psychology
Volume30
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 May 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Family relatedness
  • Family rituals
  • Flourishing
  • LGBT

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