More Contact, Less Invisibility? Intergroup and Intragroup Contact Predict Invisibility for Queer People of Color

People with multiple stigmatized identities (e.g., queer people of color [QPoC]) are especially at risk of experiencing invisibility or feeling overlooked and ignored. While a growing literature has explored experiences of invisibility, scarce research exists on the relationship between contact and invisibility, especially for stigmatized groups. In one preregistered study ( N = 338), we examined how the quantity (frequency) and quality (how positive) of contact with different target groups relate to feelings of social invisibility for QPoC. Results reveal that having more frequent contact with ingroup members, compared to outgroup members, relates to lower invisibility. Positive contact across all target groups, but especially with other QPoC, was negatively related to invisibility. Taken together, our results highlight the potential for intragroup contact as a strengths-based tool for counteracting invisibility for people with multiple stigmatized identities.