Feeling out of (existential) place: Existential isolation and nonnormative group membership

Abstract

Literature devoted to understanding the experiences of individuals who do not fit the cultural mold—those who belong to minority, stigmatized, or underrepresented groups—demonstrates that nonnormative status goes hand in hand with a range of negative outcomes. The current research considers a heretofore unstudied correlate of nonnormative status: existential isolation (the feeling of being alone in one’s subjective experience), which differs from feelings of interpersonal isolation (feeling alone with regard to the quantity or quality of one’s relationships). Normative, or mainstream, society may not acknowledge the experiences of those holding a nonnormative status, rendering such individuals at risk of developing heightened feelings of existential isolation. Across Studies 1a and 1b, we found consistently higher trait levels of existential isolation (but not interpersonal isolation) among people with a nonnormative group status than among their normative counterparts. This effect appeared whether we looked at nonnormativeness with regard to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, citizenship, native language, body weight, religious affiliation, or socioeconomic status. Study 2 highlights one correlate of the existential isolation that accompanies nonnormativeness: decreased certainty with respect to judgments of racism. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed, including addressing the correlational nature of this research and testing potential mechanisms to explain the link between nonnormative status and existential isolation.

Existential isolation and the struggle for belief validation

“…We cannot think of a theoretical reason why these findings would not generalize to other demographic groups, but we nonetheless recognize the need for research that does not rely only on WEIRD samples (Henrich, Heine, & Norenzayan, 2010). In this vein, and consistent with the findings reported here, Pinel, Helm, Yawger, Long, and Scharnetzki (2021) reported similar epistemic consequences associated with existential isolation experienced by a sample of Black participants. Among these participants, higher levels of existential isolation corresponded with less certainty with regard to their judgements of racism.…”

Existential isolation and well-being in justice-involved populations

“…The relationship between variables provided evidence for divergent validity too as EI was unrelated to social desirability and a need to belong; and the magnitude of correlations between variables were much higher for alienation and loneliness compared to feelings of EI. Importantly, other work has demonstrated a direct relationship between EI and impaired physical health (e.g., Costello and Long, 2014), reduced psychological well-being (e.g., anxiety, stress; Constantino et al, 2019;Helm et al, 2020bHelm et al, , 2022a, and greater interpersonal dysfunction (e.g., aggression; Pinel et al, 2022), even when controlling for interpersonal isolation.…”

“…Although a discussion on the reasons behind this is beyond the scope of this article (see, e.g., Bowman, 2014 for a comprehensive review), a report from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (2022) estimated that 37.5% of individuals in the United States serving time in federal prison were Black, despite only making up 13.4% of the US population. As mentioned, persons who belong to minority, underrepresented, and stigmatized groups report elevated levels of EI as compared to their mainstream societal counterparts (e.g., Pinel et al, 2022). Given that elevated EI is associated with more physical health impairments (e.g., Long et al, 2021) and mental health concerns (e.g., Helm et al, 2020b), it could be that minority people in the justice system are at even greater medical risk as compared to their non-minority counterparts.…”

“…Experimental studies have additionally shown that people belonging to underrepresented communities report higher levels of EI than do persons belonging to majority groups. For example, Pinel et al (2022) investigated the relationship between non-normative group membership, including race, ethnicity, sexuality, and experiences of EI across three studies. Participants with a non-normative group membership (e.g., gay men and lesbians, Latinas/Latinos) reported higher levels of EI than those with normative group membership (e.g., heterosexuals, non-Latinos/non-Latinas).…”

“…In other words, it could be argued that EI is experienced differently by clinical populations, or that EI affects clinical samples differently. Indeed, theorists have long proposed EI to be a salient psychological concern for clients in psychotherapy ( Yalom, 1980 ; May and Yalom, 1989 ; Helm et al, 2022a ), and empirical studies have shown that people belonging to underrepresented backgrounds are especially vulnerable to feelings of EI ( Helm et al, 2022b ; Pinel et al, 2022 ). Despite this, there remains little discussion around the application of EI to clinical samples with more diverse backgrounds.…”