Literature devoted to understanding the experiences of individuals who do not fit the cultural mold—those who belong to minority, stigmatized, or underrepresented groups—demonstrates that nonnormative status goes hand in hand with a range of negative outcomes. The current research considers a heretofore unstudied correlate of nonnormative status: existential isolation (the feeling of being alone in one’s subjective experience), which differs from feelings of interpersonal isolation (feeling alone with regard to the quantity or quality of one’s relationships). Normative, or mainstream, society may not acknowledge the experiences of those holding a nonnormative status, rendering such individuals at risk of developing heightened feelings of existential isolation. Across Studies 1a and 1b, we found consistently higher trait levels of existential isolation (but not interpersonal isolation) among people with a nonnormative group status than among their normative counterparts. This effect appeared whether we looked at nonnormativeness with regard to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, citizenship, native language, body weight, religious affiliation, or socioeconomic status. Study 2 highlights one correlate of the existential isolation that accompanies nonnormativeness: decreased certainty with respect to judgments of racism. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed, including addressing the correlational nature of this research and testing potential mechanisms to explain the link between nonnormative status and existential isolation.

致力于理解不符合文化习惯的个人的经验的文献（属于少数，受污名化或代表性不足的群体的人）证明，非规范地位与一系列负面结果密不可分。当前的研究考虑了非规范状态的一个迄今尚未研究的关联：存在的孤立（在一个人的主观经验中感到孤独），这与人际孤立的感觉（在一个人的关系的数量或质量上感到孤独）不同。规范性社会或主流社会可能不会承认那些具有非规范性地位的人的经历，从而使这些人面临发展为存在的孤立感的风险。在研究1a和1b中，我们发现，具有非规范性群体身份的人的存在性隔离（而非人际隔离）的特征水平始终高于其规范性对应者。无论我们是在种族，种族，性取向，公民身份，母语，体重，宗教信仰或社会经济地位方面，还是非规范性的，都会出现这种影响。研究2强调了伴随非规范性存在的孤立存在的一个相关因素：种族主义判断的确定性降低。讨论了对未来研究的启示和建议，包括解决该研究的相关性以及测试潜在的机制以解释非规范状态与存在性隔离之间的联系。