Identifying psychological responses of stigmatized groups to referendums

2018/03/26 by Andrew R. Flores, Mark L. Hatzenbuehler, Gary J. Gates · 1 voice · 3 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy #Racial and Ethnic Identity Research #Social and Intergroup Psychology

paper · pdf · doi:10.1073/pnas.1712897115

openalex publication_date 2018/03/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31

Abstract

= 31,067] with media market ad-buy data in states where marriage equality was on the ballot. Television media markets cross state boundaries, ensuring that there was an unintended group of people in 12 states who were exposed to the same-sex marriage discourse but who did not live in states with the voter referendum ("media market spillovers"). We take advantage of this unique data structure by comparing LGBT people in the media market spillovers to those residing in the same state but in nonspillover markets with no ad exposure. LGBT people are emotionally affected by these campaigns, and non-LGBT people are unaffected. LGBT people in markets with a cumulative total of 400 ads have a 34.0% greater probability of reporting stress than LGBT people not exposed to ads. Additionally, while the negative ads evoked sadness, positive ads evoked enjoyment and happiness. Thus, public votes on minority rights represent both a source of minority stress and resilience.

Citations

• A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition.
• Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: Conceptual issues and research evidence.
• Toward an integrative social identity model of collective action: A quantitative research synthesis of three socio-psychological perspectives.
• Daily exposure to negative campaign messages decreases same-sex couples’ psychological and relational well-being

Cited by

• Doubly Marginalized: Addressing the Minority Stressors Experienced by LGBTQ+ Researchers Who Do LGBTQ+ Research
• Pink work: Same-sex marriage, employment and discrimination
• Impact of the Australian marriage equality postal survey and debate on psychological distress among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer/questioning people and allies

Discussions

• Flores, Hatzenbuehler, & Gates https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1712897115 looked at the impacts of anti-LGBTQIA+ ads and found that higher exposure to ads was associated with higher stress among LGBTQIA+ [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]

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