Texas Institute for SGM Health Research LGBTQ+ Health Seminar Series

Esther Burson, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor of Psychology, Smith College | Dr. Esther (Esa) Burson is an applied psychologist who uses qualitative and quantitative methods to explore themes of critical consciousness and intersectionality. Their research investigates how adolescents holding marginalized racial/ethnic and sexual/gender identities 1) form attitudes about social, political, and economic inequality and 2) how these positions affect well-being and intergroup attitudes. They draw on theories of developmental, social, and community psychology to frame these questions.

Summary of work to be presented: they will be presenting recent work applying the concept of critical consciousness (CC), a developmental competency thought to empower low income racial/ethnic minority youth to confront oppression, to SGM youth. In this paper, they apply an intersectional perspective to demonstrate the psychometric validity of current CC measures among SGM populations and explore associations between CC and SGM youth wellbeing. Implications for future research on SGM youth thriving are discussed.