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Moderating effects of justice on sense of community, identity pride, and anxiety in Chinese sexual minorities
Author(s)
Date Issued
2026
Conference
Citation
Cheng, S. S. & Lau, H. P. (2026). Moderating effects of justice on sense of community, identity pride, and anxiety in Chinese sexual minorities. 2026 Asian Conference on Applied Psychology.
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
In China, where approximately 5% of the overall population are sexual minorities, sexual
minority stigma and discrimination remain significant. Peterson and Seligman (2004) proposed
the Values in Action (VIA) classification of character strengths and virtues, and character
strengths and virtues have been linked to the well-being of sexual minorities. Many sexual
minorities may view themselves as outsiders in society due to their identities. The VIA virtue
of justice—character strengths underlying healthy community life—is believed to shape how
sexual minority individuals view themselves in society. In this study, the moderating role
of justice on the link between sense of community and identity pride, and the moderated
mediation effect via identity pride onto anxiety were examined.
206 participants (Mean age = 31.4 (SD = 6.63) years; gender: 48.1% male, 45.1% female, 6.8% transgender or intersex; sexual orientation: 54.4% homosexual, 43.2% bisexual, and 2.4% queer) were recruited from a targeted advertisement Wenjuanxing for a short online questionnaire. Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) was used to measure participants’ anxiety levels. Participants who scored 5 or higher were considered to have screened positive for anxiety. More than one-third of participants screened positive in for anxiety (38.8%). The results showed that justice significantly moderated the relationship between sense of community and identity pride (B = -0.132, SE = 0.059, p = 0.025). However, the mediating effect of identity pride was not significant moderated by justice. The indirect effect was moderated by justice only at low and middle levels.These findings suggest that strengthening justicerelated civic virtues may help sexual minority individuals translate community belonging into identity pride, thereby buffering anxiety
206 participants (Mean age = 31.4 (SD = 6.63) years; gender: 48.1% male, 45.1% female, 6.8% transgender or intersex; sexual orientation: 54.4% homosexual, 43.2% bisexual, and 2.4% queer) were recruited from a targeted advertisement Wenjuanxing for a short online questionnaire. Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) was used to measure participants’ anxiety levels. Participants who scored 5 or higher were considered to have screened positive for anxiety. More than one-third of participants screened positive in for anxiety (38.8%). The results showed that justice significantly moderated the relationship between sense of community and identity pride (B = -0.132, SE = 0.059, p = 0.025). However, the mediating effect of identity pride was not significant moderated by justice. The indirect effect was moderated by justice only at low and middle levels.These findings suggest that strengthening justicerelated civic virtues may help sexual minority individuals translate community belonging into identity pride, thereby buffering anxiety
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