Racial Oppression,Self-Efficacy,and Avoidance of Interpersonal Intimacy Among Queer Men of Color: A Longitudinal Investigation

Queer men of color face pervasive experiences of racism, both in their daily lives and in romantic and sexual contexts (i.e., sexual racism), which carry deleterious effects on their psychological and behavioral well-being. Nevertheless, no studies have examined how racial oppression may impact experiences of interpersonal intimacy among this under-researched community. Grounded in the multidimensional racism-related stress model and intersectionality theory, the present study longitudinally investigated the associations between racial discrimination and sexual racism with avoidance of interpersonal intimacy, as well as the moderating role of self-efficacy. Participants included 177 queer men of color, who completed two surveys six months apart. Controlling for baseline avoidance of interpersonal intimacy, racial discrimination and sexual racism at Wave 1 were not directly longitudinally associated with avoidance of interpersonal intimacy at Wave 2. However, we found a significant interaction effect between racial discrimination and self-efficacy at Wave 1 predicting avoidance of interpersonal intimacy at Wave 2, as well as between sexual racism and self-efficacy predicting avoidance of interpersonal intimacy. Specifically, racial discrimination and sexual racism were longitudinally and positively associated with greater avoidance of interpersonal intimacy at high levels of self-efficacy, but not at low levels. The present study’s novel findings underscore the importance of addressing multilayered racism in queer men of color’s lives and considering the nuanced role of self-efficacy in interpersonal intimacy through social justice-informed research, clinical intervention, and prevention efforts.