Date of Award

8-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education, Counseling Psychology

First Advisor

Jesse Owen

Second Advisor

Cirleen DeBlaere

Third Advisor

Stacy Pinto

Keywords

Affective dyadic coping, Couple-level minority stress, Ethnosexual identity, Intersectionality, LGBTQ, QTPOC

Abstract

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.

Copyright Date

8-2023

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Sree Sinha

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

129 pgs

File Size

788 KB

Discipline

LGBTQ studies, Counseling psychology, Sexuality

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