The Palliative Effects of System Justification on the Health and Happiness of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Individuals

Across three studies, we examine the correlates of subjective well-being and mental and physical health among members of a historically disadvantaged group, namely, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals. Results show those who minimize (vs. acknowledge) the extent to which their...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Personality & social psychology bulletin 2019-03, Vol.45 (3), p.372-388
Main Authors: Suppes, Alexandra, Napier, Jaime L., van der Toorn, Jojanneke
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bisexuality
Body mass index
Body weight
Disadvantaged
Discrimination
Gays & lesbians
Happiness
Health status
Homosexuality
Internalization
Justification
Lesbianism
LGBTQ people
Medical diagnosis
Mental disorders
Mental health
Minimization
Minority groups
Palliative care
Self esteem
Sexual orientation
Transgender persons
Well being
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Across three studies, we examine the correlates of subjective well-being and mental and physical health among members of a historically disadvantaged group, namely, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals. Results show those who minimize (vs. acknowledge) the extent to which their group is the target of discrimination report better well-being across myriad indicators (Studies 1-3). We also demonstrate that this effect is mediated by perceived system fairness (Study 1); holds above and beyond internalized homonegativity (Studies 1 and 3) and ingroup identification (Studies 2-3); and is true regardless of whether individuals reside in hostile or accepting environments (Study 2), and regardless of whether individuals had personally experienced discrimination (Study 3). For some indicators (namely, body mass index [BMI], social well-being, self-esteem, depression, and mental illness diagnosis), the relationship between minimization of discrimination and well-being was stronger among those who had frequent (vs. rare) discriminatory experiences.
ISSN:0146-1672
1552-7433
DOI:10.1177/0146167218785156