Intersectional Oppression: Multiple Stigmatized Identities and Perceptions of Invisibility, Discrimination, and Stereotyping

Abstract

Abstract Participants ( N = 602; having 0, 1, 2 or 3 stigmatized identities based on gender, race, sexual orientation, and social class) completed a survey on their feelings of invisibility and expectations of receiving unfair treatment (i.e., experiencing discrimination) and being stereotyped due to their group memberships. The results were consistent with the model of intersectional invisibility, with multiply‐stigmatized individuals reporting feeling more invisible than individuals who had one or zero stigmatized identities. In addition, multiply‐stigmatized individuals reported more unfair treatment and greater stereotype concerns than individuals with one stigmatized identity, with both reporting more unfair treatment/stereotype concerns than individuals without stigmatized identities. Thus, the present data suggest that multiply‐stigmatized individuals are keenly aware of their invisibility and that invisibility represents a source of perceived discrimination and stereotyping for multiply‐stigmatized individuals.