138-141 Cristian Delcea - ROMEOs in Lockdown - One year on

International Journal of Advanced Studies <strong>in</strong> Sexology
© Sexology Institute of Romania
Vol. 3(2), 2021, pp. <strong>138</strong>-<strong>141</strong>
https://www.sexology.ro/jurnal
ISSN 2668-7194 (pr<strong>in</strong>t), ISSN 2668-9987 (onl<strong>in</strong>e)
DOI: 10.46388/ijass.2021.13.50
ROMEOS IN LOCKDOWN - ONE YEAR ON
CRISTIAN DELCEA
Department of Advanced Studies <strong>in</strong> Sexology, Sexology Institute of Romania
Correspond<strong>in</strong>g author email: cristian.delcea.cj@gmail.com
Abstract
We worked with the fact that, nowadays, the majority of teachers <strong>in</strong> schools are female, so the aim of
our research became to assess the general state of mental hygiene <strong>in</strong> female teachers, and its causal
relations. In this study we presented the may-sided, diversified roots of the research, based on positive,
Jungian and personal psychology, educational researches on teachers personality, gender issues
<strong>in</strong> education. We also exhibited the connected studies on stress and burn out mostly <strong>in</strong> connection
to teachers and the field of education. The research has a specific focus on female teachers' mental
hygiene states <strong>in</strong> connection with their develop<strong>in</strong>g professional and female identity. We po<strong>in</strong>ted out
some connections of our ma<strong>in</strong> po<strong>in</strong>ts of exam<strong>in</strong>ation and the F<strong>in</strong>nish teacher tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g practice, too.
As a ma<strong>in</strong> hypothesis we presume that just a certa<strong>in</strong> group of female teachers are <strong>in</strong> a state of fragile
mental hygiene. In the detailed hypotheses we are look<strong>in</strong>g for evidence that the mental hygiene state
shows differences between certa<strong>in</strong> groups among female teachers. The best way for exam<strong>in</strong>ation
appeared to be by us<strong>in</strong>g two validated (MBI-ES, LOT-R) and two personal creat<strong>in</strong>g questionnaires
(BÉIK, SzSzK, only <strong>in</strong> Hungarian), as a comparative survey. On the whole, our start<strong>in</strong>g assumption
has been proved, that female teachers' mental hygiene state <strong>in</strong> our mean<strong>in</strong>g the level of burnout and
psychological well-be<strong>in</strong>g are <strong>in</strong> connection with the level of the elaboration of their professional and
female identity.
Key words: fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e, mascul<strong>in</strong>e, gender, sex.
INTRODUCTION
The COVID-19 pandemic had longlast<strong>in</strong>g
negative effects on our lives. In order to reduce
the spread<strong>in</strong>g of the virus, the authorities were
forced to impose measures, such as social
distanc<strong>in</strong>g and quarant<strong>in</strong>e, that caused strong
emotions.
ROMEO is a social network for gay,
bisexual and transgender people and it is
available <strong>in</strong> 6 languages. Last April, ROMEO
conducted a survey of 76,000 users to f<strong>in</strong>d out
how they were cop<strong>in</strong>g with the ‘new normal’.
This looked at all aspects of life, from f<strong>in</strong>ances
to dat<strong>in</strong>g. In February, ROMEO did this
survey aga<strong>in</strong> to f<strong>in</strong>d how our community is
do<strong>in</strong>g nearly 1 <strong>year</strong> <strong>in</strong>, and how have attitudes
changed. As we mark one <strong>year</strong> of COVID-19
<strong>in</strong> Europe, we asked ROMEO users how the
pandemic has impacted their lives <strong>in</strong> the past
12 months.
METHOD
Participants
Nearly 50,000 people responded to the
survey. The sample for this study was drawn
from a large community of gay, bisexual and
transgender people, exam<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g their attitudes
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<strong>ROMEOs</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Lockdown</strong> - <strong>One</strong> <strong>year</strong> on
toward the measures <strong>in</strong> their country dur<strong>in</strong>g
the pandemic period, their emotional state,
their level of health anxiety, the level of worry
<strong>in</strong> regard to their f<strong>in</strong>ancial status, as well as the
feel<strong>in</strong>g of worry for their local gay community.
Measures
This study was qualitative. The participants
were asked the follow<strong>in</strong>g questions:
`What do you th<strong>in</strong>k about the measures <strong>in</strong> your
country?`, `How are you feel<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> general?`,
`Are you worried about your health?`, `Are
you worried about your f<strong>in</strong>ancial future?`,
`Are you worried about the future of your local
gay community?` and aga<strong>in</strong> `Are you worried
about your f<strong>in</strong>ancial future?`, compar<strong>in</strong>g the
answers from Europrans with those from the
develop<strong>in</strong>g countries.
RESULTS
In the second graphic, we can see the
results for the question ‘How are you feel<strong>in</strong>g
<strong>in</strong> general’ <strong>in</strong> 2021, <strong>in</strong> comparison to the last
<strong>year</strong>. With 10.0% less than last <strong>year</strong>, only 9.9%
of the respondents claimed that they felt very
good. It seems that 2020 was a better <strong>year</strong> for
the people who said they feel ‘good’, while <strong>in</strong>
2021, the percentage decreased with 11.8%,
reach<strong>in</strong>g only 25.0%. 42.6% answered that they
were O.K., with 10.2% more than last <strong>year</strong>,
when only 32.4% claimed they were feel<strong>in</strong>g
O.K. In 2020, 8.0% claimed thay were feel<strong>in</strong>g
bad. Unfortunately, <strong>in</strong> 2021, people feel worse
than last April, the percentage <strong>in</strong>cres<strong>in</strong>g with
9.7%. 3.9% said they were feel<strong>in</strong>g very bad
<strong>in</strong> 2021, <strong>in</strong> comparison with 2020, when the
percentage was smaller with 1.7%. This <strong>in</strong>dicates
that mental health specialists should be
prepared for a <strong>in</strong>flux of the patients.
Be<strong>in</strong>g asked about what they th<strong>in</strong>k
regard<strong>in</strong>g the measures taken <strong>in</strong> their country,
10.7% of the respondents said that, <strong>in</strong> 2021, the
measures were by far too strict, 14.7% said that
the measures could be a bit less strict. 26.1%
considered that the measures were just right,
while <strong>in</strong> 2020 there were 14.3% more people
who completely agreed with the strictness of
the measures. The percentage of people who
thought that the measures imposed could be
stricter rose with 5.6 percent <strong>in</strong> 2021 than last
<strong>year</strong>, when the percentage was 24.4. Last but
not least, 14.2% of the respondents believed
that the measures are by far not strict enough,
with 6.1% more than last <strong>year</strong>.
The third graphic illustrates the levels of
worry about health. In comparison to 2020,
only 19.1% of the <strong>in</strong>terviewed people said they
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CRISTIAN DELCEA
are not worried at all, still with 6.2% less than
last <strong>year</strong>. Less than <strong>in</strong> 2020 with 5.1%, 25.9%
claimed they are feel<strong>in</strong>g neutral, whereas the
percentage of the people who said that they
are a little bit worried rose with 1.8% this <strong>year</strong>,
reach<strong>in</strong>g 33.2%. 16.1% responded affirmative
about feel<strong>in</strong>g worried about their health <strong>in</strong>
2021, while <strong>in</strong> 2020, only 9.3% were worried.
Unfortunately, the percentage of people who
are feel<strong>in</strong>g very worried <strong>in</strong> the current <strong>year</strong>
raised with 2.7%, reach<strong>in</strong>g 5.2%.
It seems that, this pandemic <strong>year</strong>, the
percentage of the respondents who have
neutral feel<strong>in</strong>g or feel no worry at all about the
gay community decreased from 18.4% to 13.4%
and from 20.1% to 13.5%, respectively.
The next graphic illustrates the levels of
worry regard<strong>in</strong>g f<strong>in</strong>ancial future. It seems that,
<strong>in</strong> March 2021, there were with 0.6% more
respondents who claimed that they are very
worried about their money, <strong>in</strong> comparison to
2020, when 10.6% answered affirmative. There
is a slight difference (0.1%) between last <strong>year</strong>
and the current <strong>year</strong> regard<strong>in</strong>g people who
said they are feel<strong>in</strong>g worried, decreas<strong>in</strong>g from
14.2 to 14.1%. The percentage decreased also
for the answer ‘a little bit worried’ with 3.1%,
reach<strong>in</strong>g 22.4% <strong>in</strong> 2021. In 2021, with 1.3% and
1.2% more than last <strong>year</strong>, 22.3% and 29.2%
respectively answered that they are neutral or
not at all worried about their f<strong>in</strong>ancial future.
Overall, people seem to be less worried about
their f<strong>in</strong>ancial future than last <strong>year</strong>.
Look<strong>in</strong>g at the concerns regard<strong>in</strong>g the
future of their local gay community, 26.1% said
they are feel<strong>in</strong>g very worried <strong>in</strong> February 2021,
with 12.7% more than last spr<strong>in</strong>g. 25.9% are
worried <strong>in</strong> 2021, with 4.2% more than <strong>in</strong> 2020.
18.2% are feel<strong>in</strong>g a little bit worried this <strong>year</strong>,
while <strong>in</strong> 2020, 22.3% claimed to feel this way.
Europe compared with Develop<strong>in</strong>g
Countries
As lockdowns and restrictions cont<strong>in</strong>ue,
we see the grave impact they are hav<strong>in</strong>g on
the poorest societies. We see from the survey
answers that those <strong>in</strong> develop<strong>in</strong>g countries are
fac<strong>in</strong>g a real threat to their lives, not just from
COVID-19 but from the restrictions that make
it hard for people to survive.
Accord<strong>in</strong>g to the results of this survey,
26.6% of the respondents from the develop<strong>in</strong>g
countries are feel<strong>in</strong>g very worried about their
f<strong>in</strong>ancial future, with 16.8% more than the
percentage from Europe. A difference of 5.3%
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<strong>ROMEOs</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Lockdown</strong> - <strong>One</strong> <strong>year</strong> on
we can notice <strong>in</strong> the same way regard<strong>in</strong>g how
worried people feel for the f<strong>in</strong>ancial status:
18.7% <strong>in</strong> the develop<strong>in</strong>g countries, versus 13.4%.
There is a small difference of 2.1% between
these two areas regard<strong>in</strong>g the fact that they feel
a little bit worried (23.2% <strong>in</strong> the develop<strong>in</strong>g
nations versus 22.1% <strong>in</strong> Europe). With 6.7%
less people from the develop<strong>in</strong>g nations are
feel<strong>in</strong>g neutral, reach<strong>in</strong>g 16.2%, while only
12.6% from the develop<strong>in</strong>g countries answered
that they are not at all worried. In contrast,
31.6% of the respondents com<strong>in</strong>g from Europe
said that they do not feel any worry at all for
their f<strong>in</strong>ancial future.
Implications of the results
The current study rises concerns to
specialists regard<strong>in</strong>g a possible mental health
pandemic`, given the fact that the LGBTQ+
sample that participated <strong>in</strong>to this study
reported more levels of worry for their health,
their f<strong>in</strong>ancial status and the future of the local
gay community.
Discussion
To our knowledge, this study is among the
first to describe the experience of the LGBTQ+
community, one <strong>year</strong> after the COVID-19
pandemic began. Unfortunately, more people
compla<strong>in</strong>ed they felt very worried about the
future of their local gay community <strong>in</strong> February
2021, with 12.7% more than last March. The
good part is that, this <strong>year</strong>, significantly more
people felt O.K. than <strong>in</strong> 2020. Also, the levels of
worry for their health status rose <strong>in</strong> 2021, for the
participants who claimed they were feel<strong>in</strong>g `a
little bit worried`, `worried` and `very worried`
at the beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g of the pandemic.
Limitations
Given the fact that the study was only
descriptive, the depth of the analysis is questionable.
The possible factors lead<strong>in</strong>g to an
<strong>in</strong>crease or decrease of the measured variables
were not sufficiently <strong>in</strong>vestigated. <strong>One</strong>
explanation – that rema<strong>in</strong>s uncerta<strong>in</strong> – is that
the restrictions were confus<strong>in</strong>g for our participants.
The situation <strong>in</strong> many life areas has been
profoundly unpredictable. Another reason
might be the creation of the vacc<strong>in</strong>es, which
came along with a lot of controversy regard<strong>in</strong>g
its benefits.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we see that age or fear of
f<strong>in</strong>ancial future has very little impact on our
<strong>ROMEOs</strong> op<strong>in</strong>ion of the measures <strong>in</strong> their
countries, this is consistent across countries. It
looks like we have a pretty selfless community.
Thanks to all <strong>ROMEOs</strong> who took part <strong>in</strong>
our survey, we appreciate you shar<strong>in</strong>g your
experiences. If you would like more detailed
<strong>in</strong>formation about the top 10 participat<strong>in</strong>g
countries you will f<strong>in</strong>d the reports attached.
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