The Caterpillar Model: A New Way of Understanding Resilience for Non-Binary Activists

Background and Purpose: Non-binary individuals, or people whose gender identities do not exclusively fall into the traditional binary categories of male or female, experience higher rates of mental illness due to their exposure to minority stress experiences (MSE). Minoritized individuals can protect themselves from the harmful effects of MSE using resilience strategies. Existing research does not describe how non-binary individuals encounter MSE within the course of online social activism (OSA) behavior, and what resilience strategies they use to protect themselves. The present study sought to answer the following research question: What are the MSE of, and resilience strategies used by, non-binary young adult online social activists?

Methods: A grounded theory methodology was utilized. Seven (n=7) non-binary young adults aged 18-26 living in the U.S. who engage in moderate or higher levels of OSA were selected for participation using non-probability quota sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore each participant’s MSE and use of resilience strategies. Data collection occurred between October 2023 and March 2024. Interview transcripts were reviewed and codes were assigned to each identified unit of data. Analytic categories were then developed. Participants provided feedback through member checking.

Results: This study identified four themes: Internal MSE, external MSE, individual (contracting) resilience strategies (ICRS), and social (expanding) resilience strategies (SERS). Internal MSE included camouflage privilege guilt, concerns about sociopolitical hostility, fear of gender identity-based violence and trauma, gender dysphoria, and unstable sense of self. External MSE included conversion therapy, gender conformity pressure, institutionalized transphobia, invalidation, non-affirmation, social rejection, and transphobic bigotry. ICRS included engagement in distractive practices, escape from stigma and violence, identity concealment, rationalization, self-reflection, strategic avoidance, and the strategic use of emotions (e.g., pride, hope, joy). SERS included authentic living, engagement in social support, giving back to others, psychotherapy, and social activism. Participants described that the adaptive quality of resilience strategies often diminishes over time and context, where overreliance on ICRS resulted in the development of internal stress and overreliance on SERS resulted in the development of external stress.

Conclusions and Implications: Non-binary activists regularly fluctuate between ICRS and SERS while protecting themselves from the harmful effects of MSE. Emerging from the findings, the Caterpillar Model is developed to assist clients with understanding and addressing these fluctuation experiences. Within this model, individuals are invited to conceptualize resilience not as a rigid, one-dimensional pursuit where goals are thwarted by frustrating setbacks, but as a natural and alternating flow between ICRS and SERS, where seemingly opposite strategies are complementary instead of contradictory. Understanding and expecting this flow may encourage non-binary individuals to pre-emptively switch between ICRS and SERS based on their intuitive understanding of their own shifting needs, mediating their stress. Social workers may use this model to supplement their non-binary clients’ available strategies to promote balance between both ICRS and SERS categories, and to develop an understanding that resilience strategies may be adaptive in one context while being maladaptive in another, where shifting back and forth across categories is appropriate, expected, and healthy.