Project summary
LGBT people experience specific types of prejudice often related to breaking gender role norms. The exclusion experienced by LGBT individuals results mostly from the discrimination they face in all spheres of life, a discrimination which hampers their ability to have and access equal rights. This lack of recognition impacts the most intimate aspects of life – who to live with, raising children, how to relate as a gendered being etc., but it also affects the various facets of their social and/or professional life.
There is a great knowledge gap concerning these interpersonal processes in contemporary Romania, including the consequences of stigmatization and prejudice for LGBT people, and what type of intervention may increase the social inclusion of this group.
The implementation of the current proposal will have a significant contribution towards reducing this gap. For instance, through the development and validation of an online intervention meant to increase the identity self-acceptance among LGBT participants, we will provide an easily accessible tool to apply the research results with expected positive mental health outcomes for this target group. Likewise, through the development and validation of an evidence-based intervention to reduce teachers’ prejudices and negative attitudes towards LGBT people, and to establish means to confront social exclusion behaviors in students, we expect to reduce the level of discrimination that young LGBT people encounter.
Moreover, through the implementation of a cross-country comparative analysis we will stimulate the perspective of a longtime cooperation between the partners included in this research. Nonetheless, through our active measures to encourage young female researchers in the project and to disseminate our findings at a high scientific level, we aim to support the career of female researchers and we will contribute to the performance of Romanian research internationally.