Internalizing the closet: Concealment heightens the cognitive distinction between public and private selves.

Abstract

The present studies are the first in which social psychological methods were used to test the popular claim that the experience of concealing a stigmatized social identity leads to a "divided self." For people with concealable stigmas, concealment in public settings makes the public-private dimension of self-expression particularly salient, leading them to organize self-relevant information along this dimension. The result is a strengthened cognitive distinction between public and private aspects of the self, what we have termed public-private schematization. We developed and tested a measure of the cognitive accessibility of the distinction between public and private self-schemas by measuring how quickly participants sorted trait attributes into self-in-public (e.g., self-at-work) and self-in-private (e.g., self-at-home). People with more accessible distinct public and private self-schemas should be faster at categorizing trait attributes into public- and private-self aspects than those with more integrated public and private self-schemas. Relative to people without such identities, people with concealable stigmas (Study 1a, sexual orientation; Study 1b, religiosity at a secular college), show greater public-private schematization. This schematization is linked to concealment (Study 2) and to the experimental activation of concealable versus conspicuous stigmatized identities (Study 3). Implications of distinct public and private self-schemas for psychological well-being are explored in Studies 4 and 5. Two different measures of distress-perceived social stress (Study 4) and depressive symptoms (Study 5)-provided evidence showing that the accessibility of the distinction between public and private self-schemas accounted for the association of concealment on heightened distress. Implications for research on concealment and self-structure are discussed.

The shifting landscape of LGBT organizational research

“…Concealment also made it more likely that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer workers would witness sexual prejudice among colleagues, which was shown to cause psychological damage (Willis, 2012) and that they would experience stress and depressive symptoms (Sedlovskaya et al, 2013). Other studies, however, could detect no relationship between disclosure and work attitudes (Croteau, 1996;Driscoll, Kelley, & Fassinger, 1996).…”

Psychological Distress in Sexual Minorities: Examining the Roles of Self-Concealment and Psychological Inflexibility

“…Self-concealment was also linked to identity development, with results indicating that LGB individuals who feel they must conceal information about themselves encounter difficulty committing to an identity (Potoczniak et al, 2007). Recent literature further expounds the role of self-concealment on LGB mental health outcomes linking the resulting distress to the distinction developed over time between one's private and social selves (Sedlovskaya et al, 2013).…”

Detecting and Experiencing Prejudice

“…These affective costs emerge from the increased salience of the stigmatized identity, when concealed, as well as from the inadequacy felt concerning the act of deceit involved in identity concealment. In addition, feelings of depression can emerge due to a cognitive separation between the private and the public self, elicited by the frequent adaptation of selfpresentation to what is deemed acceptable in each context (Sedlovskaya et al, 2013). Finally, psychological distress among individuals with concealable stigmas might be worsened due to difficulties in accessing social support from similar others (Frable, Pratt, & Hoey, 1998), which further increases their sense of isolation and difference (Frable, 1993).…”