Research
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Hales, K., & Riggle, E. D. B. (2025). One LGBT community or many? Linked fate in LGBT people. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 25(2), e70024.
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, this has not been explored in the LGBT community. This study empirically examines whether there is a sense of linked fate in the LGBT community using a mixed-methods analysis of original survey data, and whether that sense 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, that it is rooted in both societal ostracization and a sense of belonging, and that it may influence group-based policy preferences.
Hales, K. (2025). A qualitative approach to understanding LGBT people’s sense of linked fate. Sexuality Research and Social Policy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-025-01267-5
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 of 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, and in their sense of belonging in the LGBT community.
Riggle, E. D. B., Clements, Z. A., Hales, K., & Galupo, M. P. (2026). Contextualizing personal pronoun use in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community: They, she, and he. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000938
Pronoun sharing is a situated decision rather than a uniform disclosure. In a sample of 301 LGBTQ adults, participants using gender-neutral or affirmed pronouns reported more negative emotion when stating pronouns, were less likely to have their correct pronouns used by others, and were less comfortable correcting others. They+ and Affirmed She/He participants were more likely to report hypervigilance around people perceived as conservative or religious. I contributed the formal analysis and methodology.
Revise and resubmit
Hales, K., & Riggle, E. D. B. “Scale Development and Validation of the LGBTQ Linked Fate (LGBTQ-LF) Scale.”
Linked fate has been central to research on political behavior and group consciousness, but its application beyond race has raised theoretical and methodological concerns. Despite growing evidence of political cohesion among LGBTQ people, existing research relies almost exclusively on Dawson’s (1994) measure, which may not capture group-specific experiences or multidimensional structure. Drawing on prior qualitative research, we develop an item pool and use exploratory factor analysis in a sample of LGBTQ adults (n = 435) to identify two dimensions: Belonging and Utility. We confirm this structure in an independent sample (n = 289) using confirmatory factor analysis and validate the scale using tests of measurement invariance, discriminant validity, and incremental validity. The resulting 12-item scale exhibits strong reliability and validity, and the two dimensions show distinct patterns of predictive validity: Belonging is more strongly associated with intra-group affect, whereas Utility predicts willingness to engage in collective action and beliefs about discrimination.
Hales, K. “Modeling Heterogeneity in Sparse Groups with Bayesian Multilevel Inference using Compositionally Adjusted Borrowing.”
Repeated cross-sectional surveys of small populations are individually underpowered but collectively informative. Straightforward historical borrowing, however, assumes that waves are interchangeable, which fails when a population’s observed composition changes over time: more recent LGBTQ+ samples are younger, more likely to identify as bisexual, and differently distributed on politically relevant characteristics. This paper develops a composition-adjusted approach that shares information across surveys without assuming exchangeability, allowing reliable inference about subgroups that no single survey can support.
Under review
Hales, K. “Internalized Stigma and Identity Affirmation as Pathways to LGBTQ People’s Sense of Linked Fate.”
Hales, K. “Modeling Small-Area Estimates of White Identity through Bayesian Multilevel Modeling with Variational Approximation.”
Working papers
Hales, K. “Conservative, but not a Republican: The Ideology-Partisan Link in LGBQ+ People.”
Hales, K. “Through Thick and Thin: How LGBTQ People’s Sense of Linked Fate Is Differentially Activated by Negative and Positive Stimuli.”
Hales, K. “Who Governs? The Relationship between LGB People’s Political Power and Transgender Rights.”
Hales, K. “Substance-Specific Overdose Mortality and Nonfatal Hospitalizations in Kentucky Counties: Evidence from BYM2 Models. “