References for our research reviewed above:
Rosenthal, L., & Lobel, M. (2020). Gendered racism and the sexual and reproductive health
of Black and Latina women. Ethnicity and Health, 25, 367-392.
Muellers, K., James, S., Williams, D., Egodigwe, C., Lobel, M., & Rosenthal, L. (under review). Women of Color’s experiences of gendered racism and depressive and anxiety symptoms in pregnancy: The mediating role of social support.
Rehbein, E., Monte, G., Muellers, K., Williams, D., Egodigwe, C., Lobel, M., & Rosenthal, L. (under revision). Gendered racism and anticipated pregnancy-specific stress among non-pregnant nulliparous Black and Latina Women.

By Victoria Lewis and Lisa Rosenthal
 
What is the issue?
Despite growing numbers of and general improvements in societal attitudes toward interracial and same-sex romantic relationships, stigmatization of these relationships continues to be a part of modern-day society. Growing research finds that experiencing “relationship stigma” can have adverse consequences, both for the relationship functioning of these couples as well as their individual mental health and well-being.

What was the purpose of this investigation?
This investigation sought to closely examine the consequences of relationship stigma from multiple sources – including family, friends, and the general public – specifically for symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as overall self-rated health. This investigation also explored potential buffers or protective factors for the impact of relationship stigma on well-being, specifically egalitarianism (believing in equity for all people) and dyadic coping (couples working together and helping each other to deal with and overcome stress). Dr. Lisa Rosenthal, Ashleigh Deosaran, DaSean Young, and Dr. Tyrel Starks explored these questions with survey data from 467 adults living in the U.S. in interracial and/or same-sex relationships for at least 3 months.

What were the results?
Experiencing relationship stigma from friends was associated with greater depressive symptoms, which in turn was associated with poorer overall self-rated health, among individuals in interracial and/or same-sex relationships. Experiencing relationship stigma from family was also associated with greater depressive and anxiety symptoms among individuals in heterosexual interracial relationships only (not those in same-sex relationships). There was also some evidence that engaging in collective dyadic coping buffered against the negative impact of relationship stigma from family on depressive symptoms; and, that believing in egalitarianism buffered against the negative impact of relationship stigma from public on anxiety symptoms.

What are the implications?
Findings support that it is emotionally distressing for people’s romantic relationships to be stigmatized by others, and particularly by those to whom they have close ties and from whom they expect support (friends and family). Therefore, it is important to continue to improve societal attitudes toward interracial and same-sex romantic relationships, including through activism. It is also important that clinicians acknowledge and address stigma that these couples face, its impact on relationship functioning and individual well-being, and potential protective factors, including in family, couple, and individual therapy and intervention.  

Rosenthal, L., Deosaran, A., Young, D., & Starks, T. J. (2019). Relationship stigma and
well-being among adults in interracial and same-sex relationships. Journal of Social and
Personal Relationships, epub ahead of print. doi:10.1177/0265407518822785

By Emily Rehbein and Lisa Rosenthal
 
What is the issue?
Black Americans and some subgroups of Latinx Americans experience higher rates of adverse birth outcomes (e.g., infant mortality, preterm birth, low birth weight) than white Americans. Also, Black and Latina American women experience higher rates of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections than white women. Past research demonstrates that experiences of discrimination contribute to these disparities. Black and Latina women in particular have historically faced and continue to face unique forms of oppression related to their sexuality and being mothers in the U.S. because of the intersection or combination of their gender and race/ethnicity. As examples, Black and Latina women have been sterilized without their consent, communicating the societal devaluation of motherhood for these groups. Also, Black and Latina women have for a long time been negatively stereotyped in society as promiscuous, having many children, and being “welfare queens” or “gold-diggers.” In order to understand disparities they face in sexual and reproductive health outcomes, it is crucial to study Black and Latina women’s unique experiences of oppression, which have been referred to as “gendered racism.”

What was the purpose of this investigation?
The purpose of the two studies in this investigation was to use an intersectional perspective to explore if two aspects of gendered racism might play roles in sexual and reproductive health disparities that Black and Latina women face in the U.S. Specifically these forms of gendered racism are: 1) discrimination based on unique stereotypes about Black and Latina women related to sexuality and motherhood, and 2) mistrust that women feel toward society and the medical field in relation to birth control (which results from historical abuses such as forced sterilizations). Drs. Lisa Rosenthal and Marci Lobel explored in two survey studies with Black, Latina, Multiracial and/or white women who were pregnant or had at least one child if these two aspects of gendered racism were associated with stress about one’s pregnancy and power within one’s sexual relationships, which are known to affect risk for adverse birth outcomes and sexual health outcomes, respectively.

What were the results?
Across both studies, Black and Latina women reported more discrimination based on unique stereotypes about Black and Latina women as well as more mistrust toward society and the medical field in relation to birth control than white women did. Further, the more discrimination based on unique stereotypes about Black and Latina women that participants reported, the more stress about their current or most recently pregnancy they reported. And, the more mistrust toward society and the medical field in relation to birth control that they reported, the less power within their sexual relationships they reported.

What are the implications?
Results of these studies suggest that unique forms of oppression that Black and Latina women face in the U.S. may contribute to the disparities that they experience in adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes. It is important to reduce societal oppression, including reducing stereotypical images of Black and Latina women that are portrayed in media and instead portraying more positive, diverse, and complex images. It is also important to educate women’s health care providers to prevent stereotypes from affecting their treatment of Black and Latina women, to increase their awareness of gendered racism as a danger for women’s health, and to strengthen trust between providers and women they serve. Interventions with Black and Latina women that validate their daily experiences with and concerns of gendered racism, help to empower them, and offer tools to reduce stress may also be beneficial to their health.
 
Rosenthal, L., & Lobel, M. (in press). Gendered racism and the sexual and reproductive health
of Black and Latina women. Ethnicity and Health. doi: 10.1080/13557858.2018.1439896

By Christopher Aceto and Lisa Rosenthal
 
What is the issue?
There are many societal stereotypes of different groups in the U.S. that are often reinforced through mass media outlets. Past research suggests that these stereotypes have negative consequences for members of those stereotyped groups, including by negatively affecting how other people treat them. Most past studies about stereotypes focus only on one group membership or identity (e.g., race). However, intersectionality theory focuses on the intersections or combinations of multiple groups memberships/identities (e.g., race and gender) and how those are connected to societal oppression. Recent research suggests that there are unique stereotypes of groups based on the combination of race and gender, including stereotypes of Black American women related to their sexuality and motherhood. For example, dating back to slavery, Black American women have been stereotyped as promiscuous and sexually available to justify the sexual abuse and exploitation of Black women by white male slave owners. These stereotypes persist today and can negatively affect the well-being of Black women.

What was the purpose of this investigation?
The goal of this study was to test whether people make negative assumptions about Black women (in comparison to white women) specifically based on historically-rooted stereotypes about Black women related to their sexuality and motherhood. Drs. Rosenthal and Lobel aimed to answer this question through an online experimental study with 435 undergraduate students as participants. Participants saw a picture of either a young Black or young white woman, and they were either told that the woman just found out she is pregnant, or were not told anything about her being pregnant. Then they answered questions about what they thought were likely characteristics about the woman they saw a picture of.

What were the results?
Participants did make assumptions about the Black women target in comparison to the white woman target that were consistent with historically-rooted stereotypes about Black American women. As examples, participants assumed that the Black woman had sex with more people in the past month, used birth control less regularly during sex, had more children, was more likely to receive public assistance, had lower education, and earned less income than the white woman. Participants also assumed that the Black pregnant woman less likely to have the father of the child involved in raising the child and more likely to need public assistance to help with their child than the White pregnant woman.

What are the implications?
These results suggest that stereotypes that have historical roots in justifying the oppression of Black women continue to affect people’s perceptions of Black women today. This can have many adverse effects for Black women, including potentially for their sexual and reproductive health. It is critical to work toward reducing stereotypical images of Black women that are portrayed in media and instead portray more diverse, positive, complex, and dynamic images of Black women that reflect the reality of their lives. It is also important to train practitioners across fields who serve and work with Black women about these stereotypes and the impact they may have on them, including to prevent practitioners themselves from mistreating Black women based on these stereotypes.
 
Rosenthal, L., & Lobel, M. (2016). Stereotypes of Black American women related to sexuality
and motherhood. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40, 414-427.

By Isabel Noboa and Lisa Rosenthal
 
What is the issue?
Because of increased globalization, people all over the world are exposed to more diverse cultures now more than ever. This makes the science of cross-cultural connections very important. Although Latin America includes mixtures of many diverse cultures and peoples, research on intercultural attitudes in this region of the world has not gotten the attention it deserves. Specifically, immigration to Colombia from other countries has increased in the last several years, making it important to understand what factors influence Colombian people’s attitudes toward immigrants.

What was the purpose of this investigation?
The goal of this study was to explore Colombian people’s agreement with polyculturalism – the belief that diverse racial/ethnic groups interact and influence one another – and the implications of that belief for attitudes toward people from other countries, including specifically toward immigrants to Colombia. In previous research in the Philippines and U.S., greater endorsement of polyculturalism was found to be associated with more positive attitudes toward people of other countries and greater intentions to become friends with immigrants to one’s country (Bernardo, Rosenthal, & Levy, 2013, International Journal of Intercultural Relations). Drs. Lisa Rosenthal, Luisa Ramírez, Allan B.I. Bernardo, and Sheri R. Levy explored whether similar results would be found in Colombia, using survey data collected with 423 diverse adults born in Colombia who were in the diverse capital city of Bogotá.

What were the results?
On average, participants endorsed polyculturalism, agreeing that diverse racial/ethnic groups are interconnected and influence each other. Participants who completed a university degree or higher tended to endorse polyculturalism more than participants with a primary, high school, or technical degree did. Further, the more participants endorsed polyculturalism, the more positive their attitudes were toward people from other countries, and the more willing they were to become friends with immigrants to Colombia from other countries.

What are the implications?
The results support that polyculturalism has positive implications for people’s attitudes and intentions toward people from other countries in Colombia, as has been previously found in the Philippines and U.S. This suggests that polyculturalism could be promoted in order to improve intergroup attitudes and build positive relations between people from different countries around the world. Additionally, because endorsement of polyculturalism was stronger among those with university education, polyculturalism could be infused more into primary and high school education to increase awareness and endorsement of cross-cultural interactions and influences. More research should explore the role of polyculuralism in different places around to world and take into consideration different social, economic, and political dynamics.
 
Rosenthal, L., Ramírez, L., Bernardo, A.B.I., & Levy, S.R (in press). Polyculturalism: Viewing cultures as dynamically connected and its implications for intercultural attitudes in Colombia. Avances en Psicología Latinoamericana.

By Gianna Monte and Lisa Rosenthal
 
What is the issue?
Infants who are Black, Latinx, and/or from low socioeconomic backgrounds in the U.S. tend to have worse outcomes in comparison to infants who are white and/or from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, including in social-emotional development. Social-emotional development involves infants being able to understand and control their behaviors and emotions, as well as interact positively with other children and adults. The racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities that exist in infancy have life-long consequences. Therefore, it is important to understand what contributes to these disparities so that we may learn how to intervene to promote equity.

What was the purpose of this investigation?
The purpose of this investigation was to test whether discrimination reported by pregnant women may play a role in the social-emotional development of their infants at 6 months and 1 year old. Dr. Lisa Rosenthal, Dr. Valerie Earnshaw, Joan Moore (a graduate of the Pace University MA Psychology program), Darrah Ferguson (a graduate of the Pace University BA Psychology program), Dr. Tené Lewis, Dr. Allecia Reid, Jessica Lewis, Emily Stasko, Dr. Jonathan Tobin, and Dr. Jeannette Ickovics explored this question by analyzing data from a longitudinal study with predominantly Black and Latina, socioeconomically disadvantaged, pregnant women and their infants. The participants completed multiple surveys across their pregnancy and up to 1 year postpartum, including reporting their experiences with discrimination across pregnancy and their infants’ social-emotional development at 6 months and 1 year old.

What were the results?
The more discrimination that women reported across their pregnancies, the more they also reported that their infants had inhibition/separation problems (e.g., crying when mother tries to leave) and negative emotionality (e.g., getting very upset often) at both 6 months and 1 year old. However, women’s experiences with discrimination were not related to their infants’ attention skills (e.g., playing with same toy for period of time) or positive emotionality (e.g., smiling a lot).

What are the implications?
The results support that there are intergenerational consequences of discrimination. Specifically, pregnant women’s experiences with discrimination through pregnancy can potentially have adverse effects on the social-emotional development of their infants. Clinicians should be aware of the impact of discrimination on women and their infants. Interventions should aim to reduce discrimination and promote positive social-emotional development in infants. We should work to promote social justice and equity so that all infants and children can have an equal chance in life.
 
Rosenthal, L., Earnshaw, V. A., Moore, J. M., Ferguson, D. N., Lewis, T. T., Reid, A. E., Lewis, J. B., Stasko, E. C., Tobin, J. N., & Ickovics, J. R. (2018). Intergenerational consequences: Women’s experiences of discrimination in pregnancy predict infant social-emotional development at 6 months and 1 year. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 39, 228-237.

By Marinela Torres and Lisa Rosenthal
 
What is the issue?
With the rise of globalization, people have more exposure to diverse people and cultures than ever before. Specifically, a lot of times when people start college, they are directly exposed to more diverse individuals than they were before college. But, some students tend to self-segregate, interacting and becoming friends with people from their own racial, ethnic, or cultural background, instead of taking the opportunity to get to know people from different backgrounds. This raises the question about how to promote and encourage more positive attitudes and interactions between diverse students.

What was the purpose of this investigation?
Polyculturalism is the idea that different racial/ethnic groups constantly evolve through interactions with each other, including learning from and incorporating ideas from other cultures. Different people believe in polyculturalism to different degrees, and this study aimed to investigate whether college students’ level of belief in polyculturalism was associated with amount of positive interactions and friendships with people from different racial/ethnic backgrounds throughout the beginning of college. To explore this, Dr. Lisa Rosenthal and Dr. Sheri R. Levy examined students’ belief in polyculturalism and changes in contact and friendships with people from different racial/ethnic backgrounds among a diverse sample of 329 undergraduate students at a diverse university, through multiple surveys from right before the beginning of college through the beginning of the second year of college.

What were the results?
The more students believed in polyculturalism (that different racial/ethnic groups interact and influence each other’s cultures) right before they started college, the more their contact and friendships with people from different racial/ethnic backgrounds increased from their first to second years in college. In other words, greater endorsement of polyculturalism was associated with greater increases in positive contact and friendships with diverse others across the beginning of college.  

What are the implications?
Believing in polyculturalism, and therefore recognizing the many ways that different racial/ethnic groups have always interacted and influenced each other’s cultures, may help students to be more open to interacting and becoming friends with people from different racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds in diverse settings like college. These findings suggest that institutional policies and programs for incoming college students might incorporate and promote the idea of polyculturalism to encourage students to value diversity and seek out getting to know people from diverse backgrounds.

Rosenthal, L., & Levy, S. R. (2016). Polyculturalism predicts increased positive intergroup contact and friendship across the beginning of college. Journal of Social Issues, 72, 472-488.

by Brandon Brown & Lisa Rosenthal

What is the issue?
There are growing numbers of same-sex couples in the United States, including growing numbers of same-sex couples that are having children. While attitudes have generally improved over time, stigma toward same-sex couples and children of these couples is still a challenge that these families face. Individuals who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) experience discrimination in their daily lives, which can become internalized, resulting in negative feelings toward the self due to societal stigma (or internalized homonegativity). And, that internalized homonegativity in turn, can potentially impact same-sex couples’ decisions about whether to have children and their parenting styles if they do have children.

What was the purpose of this investigation?
The goal of this study was to test associations among experiences of discrimination, internalized homonegativity, and attitudes toward children of same-sex parents among individuals in same-sex relationships. Also, this study aimed to test whether secure attachment – sense of security, comfort, and confidence in relationships thought to be based in childhood experiences with caregivers – could be a buffer or protective factor against possible negative consequences of stigma and discrimination for these individuals in same-sex relationships. Dr. Leora Trub, Ella Quinlan (a graduate of the Pace University MA Psychology program), Dr. Tyrel Starks, and Dr. Lisa Rosenthal explored these questions using survey data collected with 209 adults living in the U.S. who were in a committed same-sex relationship for at least three months.

What were the results?
Among participants who had low or average levels of secure attachment, more experiences of discrimination were associated with greater internalized homonegativity, which in turn was associated with more negative attitudes toward children of same-sex parents. However, among participants who had high levels of secure attachment, more experiences of discrimination were not associated with internalized homonegativity or attitudes toward children of same-sex parents.

What are the implications?
            These findings support that for individuals in same-sex relationships, discrimination may lead to internalized stigma, which in turn may lead to negative attitudes toward children of same-sex parents. However, high levels of secure attachment may be a buffer that protects individuals in same-sex relationships from internalizing stigma as a response to experiences of discrimination, therefore also protecting their attitudes toward children of same-sex parents. This suggests that societal stigma toward LGB individuals and same-sex couples and families needs to be further reduced, including through continued activism. Also, addressing attachment in clinical settings with LGB individuals as well as same-sex couples and families may be a useful strategy to support them.
 
Trub, L., Quinlan, E., Starks, T. J., & Rosenthal, L. (2017). Discrimination, internalized homonegativity, and attitudes toward children of same-sex parents: Can secure attachment buffer against stigma internalization? Family Process, 56, 701-715.

Check out Dr. Lisa Rosenthal's guest blog on Dr. Kim Case's page about a new course she will be teaching at Pace in Fall 2017: 
http://www.drkimcase.com/a-new-course-intersectional-critical-liberation-psychology/