Examining the personal and societal factors that inform the development of an asexual identity: a qualitative and quantitative enquiry
type: CreativeWork
description: As the prevalence of those expressing a lack of sexual attraction continues to rise, so too does the need for research to fully uncover the nature of asexuality and the experiences of asexual people. The asexual community, allies and researchers alike, are becoming increasingly concerned with discovering the processes that surround asexual identity development and in doing so, gain a more nuanced understanding of the diverse nature of the orientation. Moreover, while distinctions within the asexual community are becoming increasingly recognised and understood, there remains little empirical evidence in understanding how experiences differ across the asexual spectrum, as well as the intersection of gender roles and romantic identities. Through a series of publications, this thesis examines unique features of asexual identities within the context of both a heteronormative and allonormative society. Study one (chapter three) presents a scoping review of literature and synthesisation of all available evidence in the area of asexual identity development, and highlights gaps present within research. This review outlines how both heteronormative and allonormative beliefs cause many individuals to adopt negative attitudes towards their asexuality and hinders the development of a positive self-concept. Moreover, findings of this study inform the design and protocol for research presented in chapters five, seven and nine, and confirms the absence of a psychometric scale measuring dimensions of asexual identity development. Informed by the findings of the scoping review, study two (chapter five) presents an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the accounts of five self-identified asexual women. Findings from this study highlight the role of romantic orientation within asexual identity development and inspire the next step in this research to compare the experiences of romantic and aromantic asexual people. Through a thematic analysis of the accounts of 99 asexual people…
abstract: As the prevalence of those expressing a lack of sexual attraction continues to rise, so too does the need for research to fully uncover the nature of asexuality and the experiences of asexual people. The asexual community, allies and researchers alike, are becoming increasingly concerned with discovering the processes that surround asexual identity development and in doing so, gain a more nuanced understanding of the diverse nature of the orientation. Moreover, while distinctions within the asexual community are becoming increasingly recognised and understood, there remains little empirical evidence in understanding how experiences differ across the asexual spectrum, as well as the intersection of gender roles and romantic identities. Through a series of publications, this thesis examines unique features of asexual identities within the context of both a heteronormative and allonormative society. Study one (chapter three) presents a scoping review of literature and synthesisation of all available evidence in the area of asexual identity development, and highlights gaps present within research. This review outlines how both heteronormative and allonormative beliefs cause many individuals to adopt negative attitudes towards their asexuality and hinders the development of a positive self-concept. Moreover, findings of this study inform the design and protocol for research presented in chapters five, seven and nine, and confirms the absence of a psychometric scale measuring dimensions of asexual identity development. Informed by the findings of the scoping review, study two (chapter five) presents an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the accounts of five self-identified asexual women. Findings from this study highlight the role of romantic orientation within asexual identity development and inspire the next step in this research to compare the experiences of romantic and aromantic asexual people. Through a thematic analysis of the accounts of 99 asexual people…
author: Kelleher, Sinéad
language: en
keywords: Asexuality, Identity development, Internalisation, Mixed-methods
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
date published: 2023
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:47:07Z
provider: University College Cork
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University College Cork

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/10468/15100