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This study is aligned with the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM; 2011) recommendation for research to promote understanding of sexual minority health disparities. Specifically, the present study draws from two frameworks describing how stigma may manifest in negative health outcomes. First, Hatzenbueler’s (2009) model suggests mental health outcomes are influenced by group characteristics and stigma related stressors (e.g. prejudice, discrimination) that are mediated by psychological processes (e.g. coping strategies, cognitive processes) as well as group-specific processes (e.g. expectations of rejection, internalized stigma). Second, Frost’s (2011) model describes how stigma manifests as the experience of stigma (stress) as well as how intervening variables (e.g. coping strategies, meaning making) moderate health outcomes of stigma. Extending such work, this study adds to the literature explaining disparities among sexual minorities by examining multiple indicators of sexual stigma simultaneously, as they differently link to health outcomes of stress and self-reported health through psychosocial mechanisms of social support, self-compassion, and self-esteem. Moreover, this study will gauge if centrality of identity and level of “outness” plays a role in sexual minority health. Sample research questions addressed include: 1) Do different types of sexual stigma link with specific health outcomes and impaired psychosocial mechanisms? 2) Which psychosocial mechanisms are more strongly linked to health outcomes among sexual minorities? We collected data from 380 participants that self-identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual through an online survey. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses examining sexual stigma, psychosocial resource mechanisms and health outcomes uncovered that public (p<.05) and self-stigma (p<.05) related to decreased social support, whereas discrimination (p.05) and self-stigma (p<.01) related to decreased self-compassion, and while discrimination (p<.01) and concealment (p<.05) related to decreased self-esteem. Moreover, discrimination related to both worse self-reported health (p<.05) and stress symptoms (p<.01). When psychosocial mechanisms were added sequentially to the model of health outcomes, results revealed that only decreased social support predicted worse self-reported health (p<.05). However, low levels of self-compassion (p<.001) and self-esteem (p<.001) predicted increased stress symptoms, contributing an additional 34% of explained variance in stress beyond stigma. Thus, findings revealed that differing types of sexual stigma matter for particular mechanisms that ultimately link to health outcomes, underscoring the strength in particular of sexually-based discrimination in health. Moreover, stress symptoms appeared particularly vulnerable with 53% of stress variance explained by sexual stigma, decreased resources, and identity factors such as centrality. This study also provided initial support for considering the resource of self-compassion as a mechanism in sexual minority health, which has not been examined previously in relation to sexual minorities, and which might be a target for intervention to improve health.

Among sexual minorities, public stigma and discrimination are common experiences that can lead to self-stigma and the internalization of heterosexism. Szymansky, Kashubeck-West, and Meyer (2008) summarized previous literature, reporting that internalized heterosexism is correlated with stunted sexual identity formation, nondisclosure of sexual orientation, lower self-esteem, less social support, depression, and psychosocial distress. Importantly, it is not necessary to experience enacted stigma (i.e., discrimination) first-hand for it to have an impact on sexual minorities (Herek, 2007). All individuals, collectively, are aware of the stigmatized ways particular groups are treated, and this awareness become personally relevant once individuals hold the stigmatized identity (Link, 2001). Coping strategies and resources may therefore be of utmost importance to protecting the wellbeing of sexual minorities. This study examined self-compassion as one such resource that may serve to mitigate the negative effects of sexual stigma of the self, in particular the internalization of public stigma. Indeed, previous research suggests self-compassion may be an effective and healthy coping strategy (Allen and Leary, 2010), correlated with increased well-being, positive psychological functioning (Neff, 2003), happiness, optimism, positive affect, and wisdom, and decreased negative affect and neuroticism (Neff, Rude, & Kirkpatrick, 2007). Sexual minorities, by using mechanisms of self-compassion, may reduce the likelihood of endorsing stigma toward themselves and anticipating discrimination. Thus, we hypothesized that increased self-compassion would be linked with reduced self-stigma, internalized heterosexism, and anticipated discrimination. A large-scale and online survey of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals (n = 254; 59% female) revealed that as self-compassion increased, self-reports of self-stigma (r=-.27, p<.001), internalized heterosexism ( r=-.238; p <.001), and anticipated discrimination (r=-.14, p<.001) decreased. These findings and results of a self-compassion experimental induction study will be discussed to highlight self-compassion as a potential buffer against harmful realities of internalizing sexual minority stigma.

When dealing with issues related to their stigmatized identity, individuals may face a trade-off when deciding whether to seek social support directly. They may suffer short-term consequences in order to receive social support, or may avoid short-term consequences but suffer long-term consequences of decreased psychological well-being due to limited opportunities for social support (Kaiser & Miller, 2004; Swim & Thomas, 2006). Indeed, those who perceive stigma may avoid seeking support directly and seek social support in indirect ways (e.g., hinting, seeking support without disclosing) due to fear of rejection (Williams & Mickelson, 2008). Further, indirect support seeking is related to a lack of social support while direct support seeking is related to supportive network responses (Williams & Mickelson, 2008). The present study sought to examine one mechanism that might explain decisions to seek support directly versus indirectly. Overall, self-compassion is the extent that an individual exhibits self-kindness, recognition of a common humanity, and mindfulness. Previous research has linked self-compassion to increased well-being and positive psychological functioning (Neff, Rude, & Kirkpatrick, 2007; Neff, 2003). Thus, we hypothesized that higher levels of self-compassion would be positively related to direct support seeking and negatively related to fear of rejection, perceived stigma, and indirect support seeking. We collected data from 440 (59% female) sexual minorities through participation in an online survey. Bivariate correlations revealed that self-compassion was positively related to direct support seeking (r = .211; p < .01) and negatively related to fear of rejection (r = -.199; p < .01), perceived stigma (r = -.146; p < .05) and indirect support seeking (r = -.303; p < .001). Self-compassion may serve as a protective mechanism among sexual minorities by enhancing support exchanges.

Using variables identified in the social science literature believed to influence attitudes toward seeking professional counseling, an attempt was made to develop a model for predicting Hispanics' willingness to obtain professional help. A second purpose of this study was to compare college students (n = 158) with their parents on their attitudes toward mental illness and toward seeking counseling. Among predictor variables, social stigma and the belief that mental illnesses are untreatable were the primary variables predicting attitudes toward seeking counseling. The more college students and their parents perceived there to be social stigma attached to those seeking therapy, and the more parents believed that mental illnesses are untreatable, the less favorable attitudes they had about seeking professional help. These attitudes were linked to their acculturation levels; in general, the more acculturated they were toward the Hispanic culture, the more pejorative their attitudes were toward mental illness and their willingness to seek professional help. Last, college students in general had significantly more positive attitudes toward mental illness and professional counseling than their parents. Recommendations for providing counseling with Hispanic clients are provided in the context of the present findings.

Whereas sex is a classification that is expected to remain consistent and stable over time, gender is more fluid and changes depending on one's culture, within culture, and in relation to the other gender. Our society suggests that all individuals fall neatly into one of two sex and gender categories; however there exists an entire community of individuals who, in fact, do not. Transgender individuals "express their gender in non-traditional ways and find their sense of self as female, male, or other to be in conflict with their assigned gender role" (Burdge, 2007, p.244). Disclosing as transgendered is a process of emergence that is not only an internal psychological process but is also a "relational and systemic dynamic that intimately involves family, friends, loved ones, and all social relationships" (Lev, 2005, p. 11). In this study, the disclosure experiences of male to female transgender individuals as well as the changes and adjustments that occurred in their relationships were explored through individual interviews. Thematic coding was used to analyze the data and identify themes in the disclosure experiences. Considering the experience from a systemic perspective, participants discussed the mutual impact of their disclosure on family, friends, acquaintances as well as greater systems including the medical field, mental health field, and other community agencies. / Master of Science

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No description available.

Financial institutions and other organizations increasingly rely on personal data to make decisions consequential for individual wellbeing and access to opportunity. They use that data to monitor and effect transactions, manage customer accounts, track categorical statuses and eligibility, and allocate resources like credit, housing, and insurance. Yet none of this would be possible without first linking data to particular people. How do organizations identify individual consumers, and with what consequence? In this dissertation, I investigate consumer identification by studying what happens when it breaks down. Drawing on a multi-site qualitative study of financial identity theft—including 1) 45 interviews with victims; 2) 48 interviews with professionals who work on identity theft cases; and 3) observations at industry events, a nonprofit call center, and the fraud department of a large credit union—I show how unique consumer “identities” emerge from the complex and often fraught interplay of technology, expert judgment, and consumer subjectivity. By juxtaposing organizational techniques—from time-honored document inspection to cutting-edge behavioral biometrics—with consumer disputes, my research contributes to our understanding of the social construction of “accurate” personal data while revealing new ways that cultural biases inform data governance and reinforce racial, economic, and gender inequalities. My account of consumer identification highlights two phenomena about which scholars know relatively little. First, the rising importance of personal information, coupled with its limited regulation, exposes individuals to risk—a phenomenon I refer to as data vulnerability. I show how data vulnerability generates economic insecurity by shaking individuals’ trust in other people, organizations, or systems. The ways that data vulnerability produces mistrust, however, reflect and reproduce social inequalities. Low-income people and people of color experienced identity theft as a violation of interpersonal trust and reported severing relationships and channels of informal assistance to protect themselves. In contrast, upper-income individuals and whites blamed organizations and demanded their protection. Second, individuals perform substantial labor—data work—to manage their personal information, including securing and repairing it when problems arise. My dissertation documents the kinds of work people perform and the relational networks in which that work unfolds. I then demonstrate how this work hinges on inequitably distributed knowledge, expertise, and material resources. Thus, while data work burdens everyone, it disproportionately threatens the resources and dignity of low-income and minority Americans. Through tracing efforts to resolve identity theft, my dissertation reveals the dynamics of consumer identification linked to countless resources and opportunities. Far from natural, the unique “identities” on which markets depend require substantial work from a wide network of stakeholders. But that work unfolds in unequal power-laden relationships and imposes substantial costs on many individuals, particularly the most disadvantaged. At a time when organizations worldwide depend on personal data, my dissertation shows how efforts to link that data to people shape the prospects for human dignity, equality, and flourishing in the digital age.