1.3. Does Ethnic Identity Buffer or Exacerbate the Impact of RSD?
There are two key benefits of examining ethnic identity as a moderator between RSD and health. First, the theoretical and empirical literature has indicated that not all characteristics of ethnic identity are uniformly protective-and in some instances, certain aspects of ethnic identity may actually worsen the negative effects of discrimination [39,40,43,58,59]. Understanding which aspects of identity are protective-and which are not-may be crucial in developing culturally tailored interventions that address discrimination and psychological well-being. Second, ethnic identity has been minimally investigated among YSMBM in general, and in the context of RSD specifically. The very personal and often vulnerable nature of intimate partner-seeking makes RSD a unique racialized stressor. That RSD is defined as an online-specific phenomenon also makes it unique-given that discrimination is typically more brazen, prejudices more overt, and rejection more frequent–in high density, quasi-anonymous settings such as online venues [60,61,62,63,64]. …