Racial Ingroup Ostracism Mediates the Link Between Relationship Stigma and Ambivalence Among Black People with White Romantic Partners

In the Unites States, romantic Black-White interracial relationships (BWIRs) remain stigmatized and continue to be the target of prejudice and discrimination. Couple-level stigma is linked to poorer intra- and interpersonal outcomes among interracial couples in general, but Black BWIR members are ev...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Felder, Jayda (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2025
In: Race and social problems
Year: 2025, Volume: 17, Issue: 4, Pages: 482-495
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Keywords:
Black–White relationships
Couple-level stigma
Interracial relationships
Racial ingroup ostracism
Relationship ambivalence
Description
Summary:In the Unites States, romantic Black-White interracial relationships (BWIRs) remain stigmatized and continue to be the target of prejudice and discrimination. Couple-level stigma is linked to poorer intra- and interpersonal outcomes among interracial couples in general, but Black BWIR members are even more susceptible to these negative effects and may be more likely to possess conflicting cognitions about their relationship as a result. Thus, there is a need to better understand the mechanisms by which BWIR stigma affects Black BWIR members in particular, as well as identify protective factors that can assuage BWIR members’ ambivalence. As such, the current study investigates a previously untested association between BWIR stigma and relationship ambivalence among 110 Black individuals with White partners, introducing the construct racial ingroup ostracism (RIO)—the perceived exclusion from one’s racial ingroup—as a potential mediator. Significant mediation results suggest that public and private BWIR stigma lead Black BWIR members to feel more ambivalent about their BWIR as a function of them feeling excluded from the Black community. Four protective factors (social network stigma, relationship quality, perceived partner empathy, and race centrality) were also assessed as potential moderators of each mediation pathway that might reduce RIO and ambivalence, but those results were nonsignificant. Collectively, these findings underscore the necessity of continued research on RIO and buffers against BWIR stigma.
ISSN:1867-1756
DOI:10.1007/s12552-025-09455-z