Identity Management Strategies Among Sexual Minority Students in Tsinghua University

Abstract

In China, coming out can bring bad consequences, so sexual minorities have the option to show or hide their sexual orientation. On campus, there are some kinds of identity management strategies for students from sexual minorities. In order to study when the LGBTQ community in Tsinghua University chose open sexual orientation and the relationship with its reasons in the campus environment, this study uses an in-depth interview method to study the identity management strategies of seven participants. The study sorted out and analyzed the interview records. After analysis, the seven participants adopted a total of three identity management strategies. They are respectively: explicitly coming out strategy, impersonation strategy and implicitly coming out strategy. Two participants adopted explicitly coming out strategy, two adopted implicitly coming out strategy and other three adopted impersonation strategy. For the choice of identity management strategy of the students, the contact with the environment and the assessment of the risks play an important role. Apart from this, with the development of the Internet, there have also been new developments in the identity management strategies of the gender minorities on campus in the Internet social apps. The identity management strategy on the Internet is different from reality. Students' assessment of risk and perception of the environment are different. It may be a brand-new strategy.