Trust and disclosure of sexual orientation in gay males' mother-son relationships

This study explored the possibility that changes in feelings of trust for m other are associated with gay males' decisions to disclose (or withhold) th eir sexual orientation in their mother-son relationships. Fifty gay and bis exual males completed a questionnaire about their coming out experiences in the context of their relationships with their mothers. As part of this que stionnaire, they completed a retrospective graphical trust history task tha t involved plotting the degree of trust they felt for their mothers over ti me and across important events (such as disclosure). Results are discussed in terms of gay men's expectations about their mothers' responses to disclo sure, the evidence for stability versus change in their memories regarding the nature of their feelings of maternal trust over time, the complexity of the trust histories participants drew, similarity between disclosers and n on-disclosers in the shape of their trust curves, and the types of events a nd experiences that constituted the timeline or "plot" in the stories parti cipants told about their mother-son relationships. This study offers the fi rst empirical evidence to support speculations linking disclosure of sexual orientation to the climate of trust that exists in the relationship betwee n discloser and target (e.g., Holtzen, Kenny & Mahalik, 1995).