Graduate Studies

 

First Advisor

Kathryn J. Holland

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Department

Psychology

Date of this Version

6-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Citation

A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Graduate College of the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Major: Psychology (Women's and Gender Studies)

Under the supervision of Professor Kathryn J. Holland

Lincoln, Nebraska, June 2024

Comments

Copyright 2024, Allison E. Cipriano. Used by permission

Abstract

Plurisexual women are more likely to experience sexual violence, post-traumatic stress (PTS), and alcohol use problems compared to women with single gender attraction. Disproportionately high rates of sexual violence may partially explain the prevalence of PTS and alcohol problems experienced by plurisexual women. Yet, research on sexual violence, PTS, and alcohol use problems have rarely specifically investigated these phenomena among plurisexual women. Researchers have identified a positive association between binegative experiences and risk of sexual violence among plurisexual women, suggesting that sexuality-based experiences may be connected to sexual violence victimization for this population. While identifying factors predicting risk of sexual victimization is undoubtedly beneficial, there is a critical need to devote empirical attention to understanding what factors may be helpful for plurisexual women survivors in mitigating the harms often following from sexual violence, such as PTS and alcohol use problems.

Research demonstrates the centrality of coping behaviors in shaping wellbeing after a major stressor or trauma (i.e., sexual violence). However, the literature on coping with sexual violence has focused overwhelmingly on the coping behaviors of heterosexual persons, and it is currently unclear to what degree such findings may apply to plurisexual women. Research on plurisexual women’s coping has primarily examined coping with sexual identity-based rejection, prejudice, and discrimination with little work investigating plurisexual women’s coping with sexual violence. Thus, a notable gap exists in our understanding of the coping factors used by plurisexual women sexual violence survivors, and which protect them from negative health outcomes. Regarding protective factors unique to plurisexual women, a small literature indicates that bipositive experiences are protective for the health of young cisgender bisexual women; it is unclear to whether such findings may apply to older, trans and gender expansive, and plurisexual women who do not identify as bisexual.

This mixed methods study began to fill these empirical gaps and address the need to investigate potential protective mechanisms for this population by quantitatively evaluating whether internal bipositivity protected against the risk of alcohol problems and PTS among a diverse, national sample of plurisexual women and qualitatively developing a nuanced understanding of the role of bipositivity in shaping plurisexual women’s wellbeing. Participants completed an online survey; A purposeful subset recruited from the survey sample completed qualitative interviews.

Quantitative findings suggested that disengaged coping behaviors mediated the relations between sexual violence, PTS, and alcohol use. Engaged coping behaviors mediated the relation between sexual violence and PTS, but not alcohol use. Results also indicated that internal bipositivity may not moderate coping behaviors. Integrated findings indicated that internal bipositivity alone, in the absence of interpersonal bipositive experiences and affirming community, is not able to foster empowering coping behaviors, which drive outcomes of sexual violence, including PTS and alcohol use problems. Qualitative findings suggested that when plurisexual women receive interpersonal bipositivity from others and can reliably access welcoming and affirming communities, internal bipositivity becomes a powerful protective factor functioning to ground plurisexual women in positive regard toward their sexuality, selves, and communities. Many sociocultural factors deeply ingrained into the structure of U.S. culture were identified as barriers to developing internal bipositivity. Finally, unique barriers to bipositivity were identified among TGE plurisexual women, highlighting how intersecting monosexism and cissexism keep TGE plurisexual people from accessing an important protective factor.

Advisor: Kathryn J. Holland

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