Social Pain and Social Anxiety: Examining the Experiences of Ethnic, Sexual, and Dual Minority Groups

Abstract

Discrimination often involves social criticism and rejection, which may exacerbate or even cause anxiety in social situations, though few have investigated these associations. The current study investigates whether perceived discrimination on the basis of ethnic group membership and/or sexual orientation predicts social anxiety and whether use of an avoidant coping method (e.g., experiential avoidance) exacerbates social anxiety in response to discrimination. Approximately 500 participants were recruited from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds and various sexual orientations. Results indicate that the amount of discrimination reported varies by group, and that for sexual minorities the report of discrimination is positively correlated with social anxiety. Individuals who tend toward avoidant coping were found to experience more social anxiety than their low-avoidant counterparts.

KEYWORDS:

• discrimination
• social anxiety
• experiential avoidance
• racial/ethnic minority
• sexual minority