Discourses of middle aged gay men on their subjective well-being

The aim of this study is to examine "interpretative repertoires" on discourses of middle aged gay men from Turkey on their subjective well-being. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were made with 10 gay men between 45-62 years of age living in Istanbul. Interviews were recorded with a voice recorder with the knowledge of the interviewers and then transcribed. Interview texts were analyzed with discourse analysis method. As a result of analysis, seven interpretative repertoires were reached; Long-term/Safe Partner Relationship, Sexual Pleasure, Desire for Affirmation and Appreciation of Youth, Family and Friends, Transfer of Benefit and Experience to Others, Freedom, Self-Acceptance. Of the interpretative repertoires obtained in the analysis, five of the repertoires other than "freedom" and "self-acceptance" emerge as areas that are obtained through direct relationship with others, which are not entirely in the individual control of the participants and affect their happiness.