Anti-atheist discrimination, outness, and psychological distress among atheists of colour

ABSTRACT

Using a Concealable Stigmatized Identity (CSI) framework, the present study explored disclosure and concealment of atheist identity, anti-atheist discrimination, and psychological distress among participants (N = 87) identified as both atheists and people of colour residing in the United States (U.S.). Path analysis was utilised to examine the relationships among variables. Consistent with past CSI and outness research, the final model suggested small, significant associations between higher disclosure of atheist identity and more experiences of anti-atheist discrimination, as well as between higher concealment and higher psychological distress. Unexpectedly, higher concealment of atheist identity was associated with higher anti-atheist discrimination and, contrary to previous studies, higher disclosure was associated with higher psychological distress. Notably, there was no significant relationship between anti-atheist discrimination and psychological distress in the final model. Implications for future research, training, and practice are provided.

KEYWORDS:

• Atheism
• concealable stigmatised identities
• outness

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data available upon request from the authors.