Queer Interethnic Relationships: Couple-Level Minority Stress and Resilience for Intersectionally Marginalized Partners

<p>Interethnic relationships and same-sex relationships continue to increase in the U.S. While LGBQ and heterosexual people are equally likely to be in romantic relationships, LGBQ individuals are more likely than their straight peers to be in an interracial or interethnic romantic relationship. The present work aims to expand intersectional investigations regarding queer people of color (QPOC), including accounting for their individual as well as relational well-being, by use of the couple-level minority stress (CLMS) paradigm. CLMS theory speaks to the unique stressors experienced as a result of being in a relationship that is societally marginalized, impacting both dyadic and individual health outcomes. In this sample of 249 QPOC in interethnic relationships with White partners, endorsement of greater couple-level minority stressors was significantly negatively associated with couple satisfaction and individual flourishing, with regression models of CLMS explaining about 20% of the variance in each. The sample was robustly heterogeneous across ethnicity, sexual orientation, region of the U.S., relationship structure (36.2% consensually non-monogamous), and gender (39.4% of the total sample identifying as transgender or gender diverse and 44.6% as women). Sexual orientation, gender, marital status, cohabitation, heterosexuality of romantic partner, and age were found to be significant covariates and controlled for in subsequent analyses. Couple identity, affective dyadic coping, and ethnosexual identity strength were explored as moderators that may support these intersectionally marginalized relationships. Evidence for interaction effects were found for all three moderators on the outcome of individual flourishing, but not on couple satisfaction. Effects were significant at high and not low levels of each moderator, suggesting these intrapsychic and interpersonal factors may attenuate the impact of CLMS on flourishing for QPOC. This work addresses the calls for increased quantitative methodologies to understand the intersectional experiences of multiply marginalized individuals via a strengths-based paradigm, exploring the specific individual and dyadic factors which may support flourishing for QPOC in interethnic relationships with White partners in the face of minority stressors.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Year

2023

Author dc:creator

• Sinha, Sree

Contributors dc:contributor

• Jesse Owen
• Cirleen DeBlaere
• Stacy Pinto

• Affective dyadic coping
• Couple-level minority stress
• Ethnosexual identity
• Intersectionality
• LGBTQ
• QTPOC
• Arts and Humanities
• Counseling Psychology
• Ethnic Studies
• Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies
• Psychology
• Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies
• Social and Behavioral Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• <p>Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.</p>

Language dc:language

English (eng)

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2326

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.du.edu:etd-3312