1.2. Empirical Findings on the Moderating Role of Ethnic Identity
There are a number of theories addressing ethnic identity that may complement MST and provide important nuance in investigating RSD among sexual minority men of color
Much of our work on RSD has been grounded in Meyer’s Minority Stress Theory (MST), which provides an apt framework for understanding how RSD contributes to adverse health outcomes among sexual minority populations . MST explicates the mechanisms through which distal and proximal identity-related stressors lead to poor mental health outcomes among marginalized populations, drawing special attention to the role of identity in the experience of stress-such as race- or sexuality-based discrimination. Meyer posits that characteristics of an individual’s minoritized identity-such as the extent to which an individual identifies with their minority status (salience) and their evaluation of that identity (valence)-modulates the experience of identity-related stress and subsequent health outcomes. However, there is limited research focusing specifically on ethnic identity among YSMBM, and how ethnic identity operates in the context of race-related stress within this population.
Moreover, there is considerably less research examining ethnic identity among sexual minority populations in general, and among YSMBM in particular
Building upon Erickson’s and ent [33,34,35], Phinney pioneered one of the most well recognized frameworks of ethnic identity [36,37], culminating in the creation of the widely used Multi-Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM). (more…)