Perceived Discrimination and Emotional Distress Experienced by Queer vs Heterosexual People of Color, Moderated by Perceived Distal or Proximal Social Support

This study examined QPOC experiences of discrimination and emotional distress and buffering roles of proximal social support and distal social support. Specifically, we hypothesized (a) QPOC would experience more discrimination and higher distress than straight people of color (SPOC) due to their double minoritized status; (b) QPOC would have similar proximal but (b-2) lower distal support compared to SPOC; and (c) social support would moderate the relationship between discrimination and distress among QPOC, such that this link will be weakened when social support is higher. 206 participants of color (156 straight, 50 queer) completed the online survey of this study. Independent sample t-tests revealed that QPOC reported significantly higher discrimination, t = -3.14, p = .002, and distress, t = -5.12, p\u3c.001, and lower distal social support, t = -2.88, p = .004 than straight people of color supporting hypotheses (a) and (b-2). A moderated regression analysis using PROCESS MACRO v3.5 (Hayes, 2018) with perceived microaggression as IV, distress as DV, and proximal and distal support as moderators did not reveal significant interaction effects between discrimination and proximal support, β = .02, p = .93, or distal support, β = .5, p = .85. Results of the study support the hypothesis of queer people of color having higher discrimination, higher distress, and lower social support than heterosexual counterparts. No support was found on social support playing a buffering role in the relationship between discrimination and distress. More research needs to be conducted to find factors in queer people of colors’ lives that help reduce distress