Identity threat and coping strategies among highly stigmatised sexual and ethnic minorities

Through a series of four studies using qualitative, correlational, and experimental methods, this thesis identifies sources of identity threat in sexual and ethnic minorities in Turkey, where these identities are highly stigmatised and subject to ongoing prejudice, and examines coping strategies and their implications for well-being. In Paper 1, extending previous qualitative findings, I show using structural equation modelling that identifying as a ‘global citizen’ helps gay men integrate their incompatible sexual (gay) and gender (male) identities in a traditional society, and this increased gay-male identity integration predicts higher well-being. In Paper 2, I substantiated these findings with an experiment, whereby participants primed with pro-globalisation worldviews increased their identification as global citizens, which then increased their gay-male identity integration. Here, I also found that access to gay-affirmative social spaces, where gay men can express their identity comfortably, also helps increase gay men’s well-being. In Paper 3, I present findings from an interview study with Kurdish ethnic minority members from Turkey, identifying key sources of identity threat for this group as well as key coping strategies that might form a basis for potential interventions to improve well-being. Finally, in Paper 4, I tested one of these coping strategies–collective ethnic nostalgia–investigating its effects on identity motives at personal and group levels, and on well-being; here, discuss potential reasons why collective nostalgia may fail to serve as a psychological resource for coping in a highly threatened group. Together, these studies contribute to the developing social psychological literatures on identity threat and coping, multiple identities, identity motives, and nostalgia. Moreover, they provide practical implications regarding how the well-being of stigmatised minority group members could be improved with bottom-up coping strategies, in contexts where minority group rights are not ensured by legal protection

The effect of relational status on perceptions of gay disparaging humor

A lot of popular comedians are known for their transgressive humor towards social groups, but disparagement humor is not just restricted to stages or media performances. We encounter it everywhere or perhaps use it ourselves. In this paper, we were interested in how people react to disparaging jokes (i.e., homophobic jokes) across different relational settings. Adapting Fiske’s relational models theory, we examined how status differences in relationships affect the perception of and cognition about socially disparaging jokes. In Study 1 (N = 77), we piloted seven potentially disparaging jokes about gay men in relation to how they are perceived. In Study 2 (N = 288), using one joke from Study 1, we constructed vignettes manipulating the sexual orientation of the source of the joke in the dyad (i.e., heterosexual, gay, both heterosexual) and their status differences across relational models (i.e., high, equal, and low status). We found that the joke was perceived to be less funny, more offensive, and more morally wrong, and to contain more harm intent if it came from a heterosexual person rather than a gay person. Study 3 (N = 197) used concrete status differences in relationships in terms of existing intergroup dimensions. Results showed that the joke was perceived as more offensive, less acceptable and more morally wrong when it came from a high authority source (e.g., professor rather than a student). Overall, these findings bring the first evidence to link disparagement humor with relational models and show the importance status differences in the perception of disparagement humor

Prototypes of People With Depression

This article investigates the content and the consequences of the prototypes of people with depression in a multimethod fashion. Fourteen preregistered studies (total N = 5,023, with U.S. American, British, and French adult participants) show that laypeople consider people with depression as having specific psychological, social, and physical features (e.g., unattractive, overweight, unsuccessful, introverted). Target prototypicality influences how much laypeople believe others have depression, how much observers believe that depression-like symptoms cause someone to experience psychological pain, and how much professional mental health care is appropriate for others. This effect was not reduced by instructing people to focus on the symptoms and ignore the target features yet was weakly reduced by informing them of the effect. We discuss theoretical implications for the understanding of prototypes of people with depression and practical implications for alleviating the impact of prototypes.</p

Prototypes of People With Depression

This article investigates the content and the consequences of the prototypes of people with depression in a multimethod fashion. Fourteen preregistered studies (total N = 5,023, with U.S. American, British, and French adult participants) show that laypeople consider people with depression as having specific psychological, social, and physical features (e.g., unattractive, overweight, unsuccessful, introverted). Target prototypicality influences how much laypeople believe others have depression, how much observers believe that depression-like symptoms cause someone to experience psychological pain, and how much professional mental health care is appropriate for others. This effect was not reduced by instructing people to focus on the symptoms and ignore the target features yet was weakly reduced by informing them of the effect. We discuss theoretical implications for the understanding of prototypes of people with depression and practical implications for alleviating the impact of prototypes.</p