The impact of cyberactivism on the mental health of LGBTQIAPN+ people

Authors

• Pollyana de Lucena Moreira Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES), Vitória-ES/Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3783-0924
• Valeschka Martins Guerra Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES), Vitória-ES/Brasil https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7455-125X
• Leogildo Alves Freires Universidade Federal de Alagoas (UFAL), Maceió - AL/Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5149-2648

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17058/psiunisc.v9i.19621

Keywords:

political activism, social identification, mental health, psychological well-being, sexual and gender minorities

Abstract

Introduction: Sexual prejudice can harm the well-being and mental health of members of groups that are minoritized by sex and gender, such as the LGBTQIAPN+ population. Individual or group coping strategies have proven effective in dealing with such harm. Furthermore, the level of identification of LGBTQIAPN+ people with this group and their political ideology also have an impact on the well-being of this group. Objectives: This research aimed to verify the effect of psychosocial variables (social identity, activist identity and commitment to activism, political ideology and cyberactivism) on mental health (depression, anxiety and stress) based on differences in engagement in cyberactivist actions. Method: The final sample of the research was made up of 249 people from the LGBTQIAPN+ population with an average age of 24.8 years. They responded to instruments related to the analysis variables online. Results: Participants were divided according to their level of engagement in cyberactivism, with the group with high engagement (n = 114) presenting higher levels of ingroup identification, activist identity, and egalitarian political ideology; and the group with low engagement (n = 135) presenting higher levels of conservative political ideology. Only for the latter group was there a significant effect of low engagement in cyberactivism on mental health. Conclusion: The results reinforce the relationship between social identity and political action, presenting cyberactivism as a coping strategy and its impact on promoting well-being. In addition, the research brings social psychology and political psychology closer to studies on mental health.

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