Around the world, protests tied to the Black Lives Matter movement are highlighting myriad forms of unjust treatment that racial and ethnic minorities face, and prompting countries to reckon with... Show moreAround the world, protests tied to the Black Lives Matter movement are highlighting myriad forms of unjust treatment that racial and ethnic minorities face, and prompting countries to reckon with these injustices. When considering racial/ethnic minorities' motivation to engage in these collective actions (alongside allies), it is certainly spurred in part by witnessing and experiencing such unjust treatment. Yet because this intergroup mistreatment commands strong attention (rightly so), less attention has been given to another potential force behind minorities' collective action motivations -- the (positive) treatment coming from members of their own racial/ethnic group. Bridging theory on intragroup relations and collective action, in four studies we demonstrate that when racial/ethnic minorities are shown appreciation for the ideas and insights they bring to their group -- for instance, when fellow members seek them out for their ideas during conversation; expressions of distinctive treatment -- it positively affects their sense of value to the group as a whole, and, in turn, their motivation to engage in collective action. Moreover, we demonstrate how these processes feed into other established explanations for collective action, outlined in the social identity model of collective action (SIMCA; e.g., perceived injustice). We also show that even a single expression of distinctive treatment from a few unknown ingroup members can have positive effects, especially when those members have high standing within the group. Overall, this illustrates the power of the ingroup -- how taking opportunities to seek out a fellow member's ideas and perspectives can be a potent force for promoting collective action. Show less
Begeny, C.T.; Breen, J. van; Leach, C.W.; Zomeren, M. van; Lyer, A. 2022
Around the world, protests tied to the Black Lives Matter movement are highlighting myriad forms of unjust treatment that racial and ethnic minorities face, and prompting countries to reckon with... Show moreAround the world, protests tied to the Black Lives Matter movement are highlighting myriad forms of unjust treatment that racial and ethnic minorities face, and prompting countries to reckon with these injustices. When considering racial/ethnic minorities' motivation to engage in these collective actions (alongside allies), it is certainly spurred in part by witnessing and experiencing such unjust treatment. Yet because this intergroup mistreatment commands strong attention (rightly so), less attention has been given to another potential force behind minorities' collective action motivations – the (positive) treatment coming from members of their own racial/ethnic group. Bridging theory on intragroup relations and collective action, in four studies we demonstrate that when racial/ethnic minorities are shown appreciation for the ideas and insights they bring to their group – for instance, when fellow members seek them out for their ideas during conversation; expressions of distinctive treatment – it positively affects their sense of value to the group as a whole, and, in turn, their motivation to engage in collective action. Moreover, we demonstrate how these processes feed into other established explanations for collective action, outlined in the social identity model of collective action (SIMCA; e.g., perceived injustice). We also show that even a single expression of distinctive treatment from a few unknown ingroup members can have positive effects, especially when those members have high standing within the group. Overall, this illustrates the power of the ingroup – how taking opportunities to seek out a fellow member's ideas and perspectives can be a potent force for promoting collective action. Show less
Suppes, A.; Toorn, J.M. van der; Begeny, C.T. 2021
RationaleWith a concealable stigmatized identity, sexual minorities not only face discrimination but the burden of deciding when to be open about their sexuality. What are the mental health costs... Show moreRationaleWith a concealable stigmatized identity, sexual minorities not only face discrimination but the burden of deciding when to be open about their sexuality. What are the mental health costs and benefits to openness about sexual minority status? On the one hand, openness fosters integration within the LGBTQ + community (yielding downstream benefits), but it also heightens perceptions of discrimination towards oneself and the group at large (yielding downstream costs for mental health).ObjectivePrevious research has focused on openness as reflecting either a cost or a benefit to sexual minorities’ mental health, resulting in apparent conflict. We propose an integrated view of openness as leading to both costs and benefits that work in tandem to steer mental health.MethodsIn two pre-registered studies with nearly 4000 ethnically diverse, sexual minority participants, we propose a theoretically-driven serial mediation model to test opposing mediating mechanisms that operate on subjective wellbeing and mental health. Specifically, we determine how the relationship between openness about sexual minority status fosters LGBTQ + identity importance, community integration, and perception of discrimination.ResultsBeing more (vs. less) open strengthens LGBTQ identity importance, facilitating integration in the LGBTQ + community, which benefits mental health. However, openness and strengthened identity importance simultaneously prompt increased perceptions of discrimination, the burden of which adversely affects mental health. Together these opposing forces explain the weak association between greater openness and mental health – an association that indicates, overall, that openness does have a net benefit for LGBTQ + individuals’ mental health.ConclusionsBy identifying opposing mechanisms that underlie the relationship between openness and mental health, we have provided a more integrated perspective on the role that openness plays on sexual minorities’ mental health. Openness is associated with stronger group identity importance, greater community integration, and heightened perception that the group (and self) face discrimination. Show less
