Mechanisms linking concealable stigmatized identity and health: Amplifiers and coping mechanisms.

Abstract

People with concealable stigmatized identities (CSIs)—when one possesses an identity that is devalued but can be hidden—report having high rates of poor health outcomes. Limited research examines how severity of a CSI (e.g., how much distress the CSI causes the person), or spontaneous self-affirmation (e.g., when one reaffirms themselves after a threatening experience) may be related to health among people with CSIs. Students from a large Midwestern University (N = 294) answered questions about their CSI (i.e., centrality, severity, active concealment), coping mechanisms (i.e., social support, spontaneous self-affirmation), and health (i.e., psychological and physical quality of life (QOL), life satisfaction). Using structural equation modeling, we found that severity was indirectly associated with lower life satisfaction through higher active concealment, lower social support, and lower psychological quality of life. Severity did not directly impact psychological quality of life. Spontaneous self-affirmation was indirectly associated with greater life satisfaction through greater psychological quality of life. This model illustrates how amplifiers (i.e., severity, centrality, active concealment) and potential coping mechanisms (i.e., social support, spontaneous self-affirmation) impact health downstream in individuals with CSIs.