Brandon L. Velez

Navigating the borderlands: the roles of minority stressors, bicultural self-efficacy, and cognitive flexibility in the mental health of bisexual individuals.

The present study examined the relations of minority stressors (i.e., experiences of prejudice, expectations of stigma, internalized biphobia, outness/concealment of bisexuality) as well as posited mental health promoters (i.e., bicultural self-efficacy, cognitive flexibility) with psychological distress and well-being in a sample of 411 bisexual people. Most of the minority stress variables were related positively with psychological distress and negatively with well-being, whereas the mental health-promoting variables were related negatively with psychological distress and positively with well-being. Results also indicated that expectations of stigma mediated the associations of antibisexual prejudice with greater distress and lower well-being, internalized biphobia was related directly with greater distress and lower well-being, and outness was linked with some costs and benefits. Moderated mediation analyses offered some evidence consistent with cognitive flexibility (but not bicultural self-efficacy) as a moderator. Specifically, within the mediation models, cognitive flexibility moderated the unique direct relation of antibisexual prejudice with psychological well-being, the relation of antibisexual prejudice with expectations of stigma, and the indirect relations of antibisexual prejudice with distress and well-being through the mediating role of expectations of stigma. These moderations were consistent with the expected buffering role of cognitive flexibility, but they also revealed that some of this buffering effect is exhausted in the context of high prejudice. Limitations of the study as well as implications for future research and practice with bisexual populations are discussed.

Testing the tenets of minority stress theory in workplace contexts.

The links of minority stressors (workplace discrimination, expectations of stigma, internalized heterosexism, and identity management strategies) with psychological distress and job satisfaction were examined in a sample of 326 sexual minority employees. Drawing from minority stress theory and the literature on the vocational experiences of sexual minority people, patterns of mediation and moderation were tested. Minority stressors were associated with greater distress and lower job satisfaction. A mediation model was supported in which the links of discrimination and internalized heterosexism with psychological distress were mediated by a concealment-focused identity management strategy (i.e., avoiding), and the links of discrimination, expectations of stigma, and internalized heterosexism with job satisfaction were mediated by a disclosure-focused identity management strategy (i.e., integrating). Tests of moderation indicated that for sexual minority women (but not men), the positive association of discrimination with distress was stronger at higher levels of internalized heterosexism than at lower levels. In addition, lower levels of internalized heterosexism and concealment strategies (i.e., counterfeiting and avoiding) and higher levels of a disclosure strategy (i.e., integrating) were associated with higher job satisfaction in the context of low discrimination, but this buffering effect disappeared as level of discrimination increased. The implications of these findings for minority stress research are discussed, and clinical recommendations are made.

Workplace Support, Discrimination, and Person-Organization Fit: Tests of the Theory of Work Adjustment with LGB Individuals.

The present study explored the links of 2 workplace contextual variables--perceptions of workplace heterosexist discrimination and lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB)-supportive climates--with job satisfaction and turnover intentions in a sample of LGB employees. An extension of the theory of work adjustment (TWA) was used as the conceptual framework for the study; as such, perceived person-organization (P-O) fit was tested as a mediator of the relations between the workplace contextual variables and job outcomes. Data were analyzed from 326 LGB employees. Zero-order correlations indicated that perceptions of workplace heterosexist discrimination and LGB-supportive climates were correlated in expected directions with P-O fit, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to compare multiple alternative measurement models evaluating the discriminant validity of the 2 workplace contextual variables relative to one another, and the 3 TWA job variables relative to one another; SEM was also used to test the hypothesized mediation model. Comparisons of multiple alternative measurement models supported the construct distinctiveness of the variables of interest. The test of the hypothesized structural model revealed that only LGB-supportive climates (and not workplace heterosexist discrimination) had a unique direct positive link with P-O fit and, through the mediating role of P-O fit, had significant indirect positive and negative relations with job satisfaction and turnover intentions, respectively. Moreover, P-O fit had a significant indirect negative link with turnover intentions through job satisfaction.

Transgender individuals' workplace experiences: the applicability of sexual minority measures and models.

The present study explored whether 3 existing measures of workplace constructs germane to the experiences of sexual minority people could be modified to improve their applicability with transgender individuals. To this end, the Workplace Heterosexist Experiences Questionnaire (WHEQ; C. R. Waldo, 1999); the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Climate Inventory (LGBTCI; B. J. Liddle, D. A. Luzzo, A. L. Hauenstein, & K. Schuck, 2004); and the Workplace Sexual Identity Management Measure (WSIMM; M. Z. Anderson, J. M. Croteau, Y. B. Chung, & T. M. DiStefano, 2001) were modified to explicitly address the experiences of transgender individuals. Data from a sample of 263 transgender individuals were used to evaluate the psychometric properties of the modified measures. Analyses of the structures of the modified measures (Transgender Forms [TF]) suggested an alternative 2-factor structure for the WHEQ-TF, but provided support for the previously observed unidimensional structure for the LGBTCI-TF, and a slightly modified 3-factor structure for the WSIMM-TF. Cronbachs alpha reliability coefficients for scale or subscale items across the 3 measures were acceptable. Criterion-related validity was evident in theoretically consistent patterns of correlations between scores on the 3 modified measures and scores on indicators of job satisfaction and outness. These data provide preliminary support for transgender-specific versions of measures of 3 key constructs in the sexual minority vocational behavior research.

Moving beyond the binary with disordered eating research: a test and extension of objectification theory with bisexual women.

In predicting disordered eating, the core model of objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) has been replicated and extended in research across most sexual minority groups (e.g., Haines et al., 2008; Wiseman & Moradi, 2010), but not bisexual women. The present study tested the tenets of objectification theory with a sample of 316 bisexual women and further extended this theory by examining the roles of 2 minority stressors-antibisexual discrimination and internalized biphobia-that are contextually salient for bisexual women. A latent variable structural equation model was conducted, and the model yielded a good fit to the data. Antibisexual discrimination and internalized biphobia (but not sexual objectification experiences) yielded significant unique links with internalization of sociocultural standards of attractiveness (internalization of CSA). Next, internalization of CSA yielded a significant unique link with body surveillance. In addition, antibisexual discrimination, internalization of CSA, and body surveillance yielded significant unique links with body shame. Finally, sexual objectification experiences, internalization of CSA, and body shame yielded significant unique links with eating disorder symptomatology. Beyond the direct relations, antibisexual discrimination yielded significant positive indirect links with body surveillance, body shame, and eating disorder symptoms. Internalization of CSA yielded significant positive indirect links with body shame and eating disorder symptoms. Lastly, body surveillance yielded a significant positive indirect link with eating disorder symptoms. Implications for research and practice with bisexual women are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Multiple Oppressions and the Mental Health of Sexual Minority Latina/o Individuals

This study investigated the additive and interactive relations of two forms of external oppression (racist discrimination and heterosexist discrimination) and internalized oppression (internalized racism and internalized heterosexism) with psychological distress, life satisfaction, and self-esteem in a sample of 173 sexual minority Latina/o adults. A combination of external and internalized oppressions was associated uniquely with psychological distress whereas the two internalized oppressions were linked uniquely with life satisfaction and self-esteem. The Racist discrimination × Internalized racism, Racist discrimination × Internalized heterosexism, and Heterosexist discrimination × Internalized racism interactions each accounted for unique variance in self-esteem. Specifically, low internalized racism protected self-esteem at low levels of racist discrimination, low internalized heterosexism protected self-esteem at high levels of racist discrimination, and low internalized racism protected self-esteem at high levels of heterosexist discrimination. Thus, multiple forms of oppression contribute additively and interactively to mental health in this population.

Minority stress and the moderating role of religious coping among religious and spiritual sexual minority individuals.

In prior research with primarily heterosexual religious and spiritual individuals, positive and negative forms of religious coping have been posited to moderate the links between minority stressors and psychological outcomes (Kim, Kendall, & Webb, 2015; Szymanski & Obiri, 2011). With a sample of 143 sexual minority people, the present study extended these hypotheses by examining the moderating roles of positive and negative religious coping in the link of 2 sexual minority-specific minority stress variables (heterosexist discrimination, internalized heterosexism) with psychological distress and well-being. In partial support of our hypotheses, we found that positive religious coping moderated the relation of internalized heterosexism and psychological well-being such that greater positive religious coping weakened the deleterious impact of internalized heterosexism on psychological well-being. Negative religious coping did not moderate any links. As the first test of the moderating roles of religious coping styles in the sexual minority stress-psychological distress link, the present study yields important findings for research and practice with religious and spiritual sexual minority individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record

Relations of Sexual Objectification and Racist Discrimination with Latina Women’s Body Image and Mental Health

In the current study, we tested direct and mediated associations of objectification theory constructs and racist discrimination with eating disorder and depressive symptomatology in a sample of 180 Latina women (age range = 18-66). Results of a path analysis indicated that internalization of sociocultural standards of attractiveness was related to greater eating disorder and depressive symptomatology in part through the mediating roles of body shame and body surveillance, and body surveillance was related to greater eating disorder and depressive symptomatology through the mediating role of body shame. Sexual objectification did not yield hypothesized direct and indirect unique relations with criterion variables. However, racist discrimination was directly associated with greater depressive symptomatology and indirectly associated, through the mediating role of body shame, with greater eating disorder and depressive symptomatology. These results extend tenets of objectification theory to Latina women and point to the role of racist discrimination within this framework.

Building a pantheoretical model of dehumanization with transgender men: Integrating objectification and minority stress theories.

With a national sample of 304 transgender men, the present study tested a pantheoretical model of dehumanization (Moradi, 2013) with hypotheses derived from objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), minority stress theory (Meyer, 2003), and prior research regarding mens body image concerns. Specifically, we tested common objectification theory constructs (internalization of sociocultural standards of attractiveness [SSA], body surveillance, body satisfaction) as direct and indirect predictors of compulsive exercise. We also examined the roles of transgender-specific minority stress variables-antitransgender discrimination and transgender identity congruence-in the model. Results of a latent variable structural equation model yielded mixed support for the posited relations. The direct and indirect interrelations of internalization of SSA, body surveillance, and body satisfaction were consistent with prior objectification theory research, but only internalization of SSA yielded a significant direct relation with compulsive exercise. In addition, neither internalization of SSA nor body surveillance yielded significant indirect relations with compulsive exercise. However, antitransgender discrimination yielded predicted indirect relations with body surveillance, body satisfaction, and compulsive exercise, with transgender congruence playing a key mediating role in most of these relations. The implications of this pantheoretical model for research and practice with transgender men are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Examining the Psychology of Working Theory: Decent Work Among Sexual Minorities.

Research has found heterosexist discrimination negatively relates to vocational outcomes among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people, but no known study has examined how heterosexist discrimination relates to the attainment of decent work. Building from the Psychology of Working Theory, which proposes that specific forms of marginalization coupled with economic constraints limit a person’s ability to secure decent work, the present study examined theoretically hypothesized pathways to decent work among a sample of employed sexual minority adults. Heterosexist discrimination and social class were examined as direct predictors of decent work, and indirect links were examined via work volition and career adaptability. Among our sample of 218 sexual minority people, structural equation modeling results suggested heterosexist discrimination and social class directly—and indirectly through work volition—predicted decent work. Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.