Final answer:
The minority stress model suggests that individuals from stigmatized groups experience increased stress due to discrimination, contributing to poor physical and mental health. Social support can moderate but not erase these negative impacts, highlighting the need for ongoing antidiscrimination efforts.
Step-by-step explanation:
The minority stress model suggests that individuals in stigmatized and marginalized groups experience heightened stress due to discrimination and prejudice. This form of stress is associated with a variety of negative physical and mental health outcomes. The model considers how multiple social identities, such as gender, age, religion, sexuality, and ethnicity, can lead to exposure to multiple forms of discrimination, which compound the effects on an individual's health. Specifically, the model indicates that stress arising from the unique social and cultural challenges faced by these individuals, such as inconsistent work, injustices, and cultural differences, plays a significant role in poor health outcomes.
While social support and healthy coping strategies can act as buffers to the stress caused by perceived discrimination, they do not completely mitigate the negative impact on health. Therefore, continuous efforts toward reducing discrimination, including legal protections for vulnerable groups, are crucial for improving the mental and physical well-being of minority populations.