Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6334-3276

Date Available

5-2-2025

Year of Publication

2025

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College

Arts and Sciences

Department/School/Program

Political Science

Faculty

Ellen D.B. Riggle

Faculty

Michael Zilis

Abstract

This is a three study dissertation. While the LGBT community is often referred to as a monolith, research suggests that it may be separate subgroups under one umbrella. Linked fate is the sense that what happens to one member of a group will affect all other group members with consequences for political behavior. While research on racial identity groups suggests that members often feel a sense of linked fate with other group members, this research has not been generalized or explored in the LGBT community. This study empirically explores whether there is a sense of linked fate in the LGBT community using a mixed-methods approach to analyze data from an online survey. We also explore whether a sense of linked fate is associated with group-based policy preferences. Findings suggest that LGBT people do feel a sense of linked fate with other LGBT people despite differences that exist within the subgroups. The qualitative results suggest that LGBT people’s sense of linked fate is rooted in both societal ostracization and a sense of belonging in the LGBT community. This study also suggests that a sense of linked fate through LGBT identity may influence group-based policy preferences. These results argue for the importance of studying the LGBT community as an identity group in political behavior while acknowledging distinctions between subgroups.

How do LGBT people experience, conceptualize, and understand linked fate? The literature has primarily focused, both methodologically and theoretically, on Black Americans’ sense of linked fate, leaving a gap in our understanding of LGBT people’s sense of linked fate. Using reflexive phenomenological thematic analysis on data collected in 2023 from semi-structured interviews with 15 self-identifying LGBT people, three broad themes were identified: Contextualization, Belonging, and Utility. The results suggest that LGBT people’s sense of linked fate is rooted in their unique shared experiences of social, political, and cultural stigmatization and exclusion, as well as their sense of belonging in the LGBT community. The results offer insights into how LGBT people’s political behavior may be driven by communal perspectives and feelings, and the role of LGBT people’s historic and contemporary experiences of ostracism shape LGBT people’s political attitudes and behaviors.

How can we better measure and assess LGBT people’s sense of linked fate? In order to quantitatively assess LGBT people’s sense of linked fate, I develop and validate a novel scale to measure LGBT people’s sense of linked fate: the LGBT linked fate (LGBT-LF) scale. In Study 3a, I use exploratory factor analyses to develop a factor structure for the LGBT-LF using a pool of items developed from the qualitative data in Study 2 using a sample of 435 self-identifying LGBT people from an online survey. In Study 3b, I validate the final 12-item scale using tests of measurement invariance, as well as convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity testing. The results suggest LGBT people’s sense of linked fate is theoretically grounded in two conceptually distinct, but interrelated, constructs: Belonging and Utility. The results determined the LGBT-LF to have strong internal consistency reliability, measurement invariance across gender identity, sexual identity, and partisan identity, strong convergent validity, moderate discriminant validity, and consistent predictive validity. The results have implications for studying LGBT people’s political behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs, as well as furthering our understanding of LGBT people’s politicized identification and LGBT people in political science.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2025.43

Funding Information

Study 3 was supported by the Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women in 2024.

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