Looking heteronormatively good! Combining story completion with Bitstrips to explore understandings of sexuality and appearance

Hayfield, Nikki; Wood, Matthew

Abstract

© 2019, © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This study sought to develop knowledge about understandings of sexuality and appearance by using a story completion task combined with an innovative visual methodology. Fifty-four (mainly female) participants were randomly assigned to complete a story about a fictional bisexual, lesbian, or heterosexual character who is going on a date, and then asked to build a Bitstrips online avatar of their character. Our social constructionist thematic analysis identified that looking good was a common feature of the stories and that this was understood in largely heteronormative terms. This imperative was also clear in stories of the date, which relied on traditional notions of gender and heterosexuality. Finally, individuality and authenticity were rewarded in participants’ stories, yet this was simultaneously constrained by (dominant) heteronormative narratives. We conclude that combining story completion with visual methods enabled deeper insights into representations of appearance, dating, and relationships, than a textual method alone.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 11, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Nov 28, 2018
• Publication Date: Jan 2, 2019
• Deposit Date: Sep 11, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 28, 2019
• Journal: Qualitative Research in Psychology
• Print ISSN: 1478-0887
• Electronic ISSN: 1478-0895
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 115-135
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2018.1536390
• Keywords: adornment, avatars, bisexual, gay, lesbian, heterosexual, innovative methods, sexualities, thematic analysis, virtual characters, visual analysis
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/853039
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2018.1536390
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Qualitative Research in Psychology on 28th November 2018, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2018.1536390.
• Contract Date: Sep 11, 2018