Identity Denial

Abstract

Abstract Identity denial is a type of social identity threat that occurs when an individual is not recognized as a member of a group to which he or she belongs. In other words, acceptance as part of an important ingroup is in jeopardy in identity denial situations. Typically, individuals are denied ingroup status because they do not resemble a prototypical group member, so their common ingroup identity is called into question or unrecognized by fellow group members. Identity denial is sometimes a subtle, exclusionary experience, sometimes a blatant questioning of belonging. Within recent years, there has been a growing empirical literature in psychology on denial of American identity for visible ethnic and racial minorities (e.g., Asian Americans, African Americans, and Latino/as).