Researcher ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3558-4711
Graduation Year
2023
Date of Submission
4-2023
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Award
Best Senior Thesis in Psychology
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Psychology
Reader 1
Wei-Chin Hwang
Reader 2
Marcus Rodriguez
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2023 Juliana Gutierrez Hudson
Abstract
Sexual violence (SV) survivors are often confronted with hostile environments that perpetuate victim-blaming attitudes. One common response to SV is self-invalidation; whereby, survivors deny, neglect, minimize or judge themselves and their experiences via feelings of self-blame, shame, taintedness, and anticipatory stigma. Research suggests that patriarchal gender-based values like marianismo are prevalent in Latinx communities and that Latina survivors are at increased risk for self-invalidation and mental illness. Consequently, it is imperative to examine cultural mechanisms that may contribute to these negative outcomes among Latina survivors. This study’s objectives were threefold: (1) examine ethnic differences in self-invalidation between Latina and White survivors; (2) examine the mediating effect of marianismo on the link between ethnicity and self-invalidation; and (3) test the hypothesis that self-invalidation uniquely predicts survivors’ negative mental health outcomes. Participants (N = 129) recruited via Prolific, who identified as Latina or non-Latina White survivors of male-perpetrated SV completed questionnaires assessing marianismo beliefs, mental health outcomes (PTSD, depression, anxiety), assault and disclosure experiences, and post-assault self-invalidation. Results revealed high rates of self-invalidation and low rates of marianismo among Latina and White survivors. Importantly, marianismo positively predicted survivors’ self-invalidation, which in turn predicted increased risk for PTSD, depression, and anxiety. These findings suggest that survivors across cultures may be internalizing the invalidating messages they receive from their environments and that the subsequent experience of self-invalidation exacerbates their mental illness. Implications for discerning contemporary forms of marianismo, understanding the debilitating impact of self- invalidation, and developing culturally responsive interventions for Latina survivors are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Gutierrez Hudson, Juliana, "“Ella Se lo Buscó”: Marianismo as a Cultural Vehicle for Self-Invalidation among Latina Survivors of Sexual Violence" (2023). CMC Senior Theses. 3376.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3376
