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- Title
Minority Stress, Emotion Regulation, and Executive Function: An Experimental Investigation of Gay and Lesbian Adults.
- Authors
McGarrity, Larissa A.; Huebner, David M.; Smith, Timothy W.; Suchy, Yana
- Abstract
Minority stress is associated with emotional, cognitive, and health consequences for sexual minority individuals. Mechanisms remain poorly understood. Theory and preliminary evidence suggests that stress associated with minority identity results in negative emotions and attempts at suppression, which may contribute to depletion of executive function. This study was an experimental investigation of gay and lesbian adults (N = 141). Participants engaged in a stressful interpersonal task with a confederate with anti-gay or pro-gay attitudes. We examined how condition affected executive function, along with potential mediators (state anger, anxiety, expressive suppression). Contrary to hypotheses, participants in the anti-gay condition showed better postmanipulation cognitive performance than the pro-gay condition. This effect was partially mediated by anger. Participants in the anti-gay condition reported greater attempts at suppression, but this variable did not emerge as a mediator. This study was the first to experimentally manipulate exposure to anti-gay attitudes and measure effects on executive function.
- Subjects
MINORITY stress; ADULTS; EMOTIONS; GAY people; SEXUAL minorities; ANGER; EXECUTIVE function; RESEARCH; RESEARCH methodology; EVALUATION research; MEDICAL cooperation; COMPARATIVE studies; INTERPERSONAL relations; QUESTIONNAIRES; PSYCHOLOGICAL stress; PSYCHOLOGICAL factors
- Publication
Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 2020, Vol 46, Issue 3, p365
- ISSN
0146-1672
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1177/0146167219855047