The Association Between Psychological Well-Being and Intersectional Awareness: Clarifying the Role of Identity Privilege and Critical Consciousness

The goal of these 2 studies was to clarify the association between intersectional awareness (IA) and psychological well-being (PWB). Past research on this association has been mixed, with some studies identifying positive well-being outcomes (e.g., Fischer & Good, 2004; Yakushko, 2007) and others identifying negative well-being outcomes (e.g., Curtin et al., 2015; Greenwood, 2008). Study 1 examined the role of identity privilege, predicting that identity privilege would moderate the relationship between IA and well-being. Analyses indicated a positive relationship between IA and well-being, regardless of identity privilege (β = .19). Study 2 examined the role of identity privilege and identity group, as well as the role of critical consciousness and its factors: egalitarianism (CC-Eg) and critical action (CC-CA), predicting that any association between IA and well-being would be present for participants with high CC-CA, and intensified by CC-Eg. Analyses indicated that the overall relationship between IA and well-being was insignificant, but CC-Eg played the most important role in predicting well-being by interacting separately with IA (β = .20) and CC-CA (β = .22). Study 2 found that the association between IA and well-being was positive only for African American and Black people. Studies 1 and 2 suggest that the factors of critical consciousness uniquely interact with IA as it relates to well-being and that this association may be especially important for African American and Black people. These studies provide future researchers and mental health professionals with a framework for understanding how opinions and awareness of intersecting social hierarchies and injustices may be related to PWB.