Self-structure and Discrimination: Implications for Coping and Wellbeing

Abstract

Substantial research demonstrates the negative effects of discrimination on the psychological wellbeing of stigmatised groups. While the ultimate goal should be to reduce occurrences of discrimination, in the interim it is important to identify resiliency factors which may reduce the impact of discrimination. Given that being the victim of discrimination is likely to be experienced as a form of stress, research from the stress and coping literature can be used to inform knowledge in this area. In line with this literature, we examine self-concept structure as a resiliency factor. Self-concept structure refers to how people organise their self-beliefs and incorporates: (a) the number of different identities they subscribe to, (b) the degree to which they see their identities as similar or different, (c) the coherency and stability of self-beliefs and (d) the degree to which people can recognise and articulate their self-beliefs. In order to explore the role of self-concept structure in the context of discrimination we employ three surveys and two experiments, with a total of 577 participants from multiple stigmatised groups including women, international students and same-sex attracted people. Using regression models we examine two forms of self-structure (self-complexity and self-clarity) and whether they mediate and/or moderate the relationships between discrimination, stress, depression and anxiety symptomology. The findings indicate that having clear, coherent and stable self-beliefs may reduce the negative impact of discrimination on depressive symptomology. Furthermore, using a values based intervention from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy appears to be a means to reduce the impact of reading discriminatory articles on mood (a possible precursor to experiencing depressive symptoms). We conclude by discussing the clinical implications for the assessment of psychopathology in stigmatised populations and treatment targets to address the stigmatised self-concept.