Intragroup Marginalization, Well-being and Willingness to Seek Mental Health Resources at the Intersection of Bicultural and LGBTQ+ Identities

Mental health help seeking literature has consistently found that bicultural individuals are less willing to seek help than participants from monocultural backgrounds, yet it has also demonstrated that LGBTQ+ identifying individuals tend to be more willing. The present study investigated this from the perspective of intragroup marginalization as a mediator of willingness to seek help and of wellbeing. It was hypothesized that LGBTQ+ identity, lower intragroup marginalization, and higher socioeconomic status would predict higher levels of help seeking. LGBTQ+ participants were expected to experience more intragroup marginalization, and therefore lower wellbeing. It was found that non-LGBTQ+ participants were not more or less willing to seek help than LGBTQ+ individuals. LGBTQ+ identity predicted higher intragroup marginalization and lower overall wellbeing, though the later did not serve as a mediator. Importantly, intragroup marginalization was found to be a better predictor of willingness to seek help than socioeconomic status, implications will be discussed.