Results On average, participants endorsed higher negative moods in the blatant and subtle conditions (Table 1). In particular, participants in the blatant condition endorsed high levels of distressed, fearful, angry, disgusted, and tense moods.

Significant bivariate correlations among racial identity variables and between racial identity and sociodemographic variables (Table 2)

Introduction Racial discrimination is a common experience for African American youth (e.g., Seaton et al., 2010) with negative effects on psychological well-being (Williams and Mohammed, 2009). Research has identified emotional responses to discrimination as key to understanding the link between discrimination and later outcomes (e.g., Carter & Reynolds, 2011). Racial identity – the significance and meaning of race – has been found to buffer the relationship between racial discrimination and psychological adjustment (e.g., Neblett, Shelton, & Sellers, 2004). Very few studies have specifically examined multiple emotions or the protective role of racial identity in the context of emotional responses to racial discrimination. The current study sought to investigate the association between racial discrimination and affective response patterns to such experiences, as well as the link between racial identity and those affective responses.

Research questions 1. Does there exist more than one pattern of mood responses to blatant and subtle

discrimination? 2. Do these patterns differ by the subtlety of the discrimination? 3. Which dimensions of racial identity predict emotional cluster membership for blatant

and subtle discrimination?

Hypotheses Consistent with the premise that individuals may experience multiple and varying emotions, we expected distinct patterns of responses to discrimination. Given that subtle experiences with discrimination confer more ambiguity, we expected that there might be more variation in affective response patterns to subtle discrimination. We expected that several dimensions of racial identity would predict membership in these emotional clusters.

Method Participants 129 self-identified African American college students at a southeastern, public university (Mean Age = 20.8 (s.d. = 1.81); 55% Female) Median family SES = “Middle Class”

Design and Procedures Two session, experimental design First session: Participants completed a sociodemographic measure and racial identity scale. Second session: Participants were exposed to subtle and blatant discrimination using auditory racism analogues, and emotional responses to these scenarios were gauged.

Participants imagined themselves in two scenarios for each racism condition: Blatant racism (e.g., a police officer unjustly pulls someone over and denigrates the individual’s race) Subtle racism (e.g., a security guard suspiciously follows an individual around a bookstore)

Measures Demographics. Information on age, gender, and socioeconomic status was collected. Racial Identity. The Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity – Short Form (Martin et al., 2010) assessed agreement with 27 racial identity items (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). Racial Centrality: Extent to which one defines himself with regard to race “Being Black is an important reflection of who I am.”

Racial regard: Judgments individuals make about their race “I’m happy that I am Black.” (Private regard) “Overall, Blacks are considered good by others.” (Public regard)

Racial Ideology: Individuals’ beliefs, attitudes, and opinions about how Blacks should act “Blacks should strive to be full members of the American political system.” (Assimilationist) “Blacks should judge Whites as individuals and not as members of the White race.” (Humanist) “The racism Blacks have experienced is similar to that of other minority groups.” (Oppressed Minority) “Whenever possible, Blacks should buy from other Black businesses.” (Nationalist)

Mood Rating Scale. Eight Likert-type questions assessing participants’ self-reported moods during each scenario (1 = not at all to 9 = Very). The eight moods included positive (e.g., self-assured, happy, and pleasant) and negative (e.g., distress, fear, anger, disgust, and tense) moods.

Emotional Response Profiles to Racial Discrimination: Does Racial Identity Predict Affective Patterns?

Shawn C.T. Jones & Enrique W. Neblett, Jr. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Conclusions Results indicated that there is more than one way in which African American young adults respond emotionally to discrimination. The clusters included both emotions that have been traditionally associated with discrimination (e.g., anger; Carter & Forsyth, 2010) and those that have not (e.g., self-assuredness). There were similarities, but also qualitative differences in the clusters based on the subtlety of discrimination. This further supports previous findings about the differences between overt and covert racism (e.g., Salvatore & Shelton, 2007). Subtle condition = greater expression of “tense”

Blatant condition = higher levels of “fear” More individuals in Attenuated cluster in subtle condition

Self-assuredness characterizes cluster in subtle condition

Racial Identity was associated with the likelihood of belonging to particular emotional clusters relative to others. All of these dimensions have been found to be protective in prior work (e.g., Sellers & Shelton, 2003). Private Regard associated with both high- and low- emotive clusters “Black central” dimensions (centrality and nationalist ideology) associated

with decreased likelihood of Attenuated membership

Paradoxical relationship between immediate negative experiences and later

positive outcomes associated with aspects of racial identity

Future research should: Explore a fuller variety of emotions (e.g., POMS). Involve younger African Americans to determine if the emotional response

patterns found in this study hold across development. Employ longitudinal methods as a means of exploring mechanisms. Investigate the interplay between affective and psychophysiological

responses to discrimination

Implications Findings may indicate that emotions impact future health outcomes

Future work may further elucidate the stress and coping processes associated

with racism, identifying avenues through which to disrupt discrimination’s

deleterious impact.

References

Carter, R. T., & Forsyth, J. (2010). Reactions to racial discrimination: Emotional stress and help-seeking behaviors. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 2(3), 183-191. Carter, R. T., & Reynolds, A. L. (2011). Race-related stress, racial identity status attitudes, and emotional reactions of Black Americans. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 17(2), 156-162. Neblett, E. W., Jr., Shelton, J. N., & Sellers, R. M. (2004). The role of racial identity in managing daily racial hassles. In G. Philogène, & G. Philogène (Eds.), Racial identity in context: The legacy of Kenneth B. Clark. (pp. 77-90). Washington, DC US: American Psychological Association. Salvatore, J., & Shelton, J. N. (2007). Cognitive costs of exposure to racial prejudice. Psychological Science, 18(9), 810-815. Seaton, E. K., Caldwell, C. H., Sellers, R. M., & Jackson, J. S. (2010). Developmental characteristics of African American and Caribbean black adolescents' attributions regarding discrimination. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 20(3), 774-788 Sellers, R. M., & Shelton, J. N. (2003). The role of racial identity in perceived racial discrimination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(5), 1079-1092. Williams, D. R., & Mohammed, S. A. (2009). Discrimination and racial disparities in health: Evidence and needed research. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 32(1), 20-47.

Acknowledgements We thank members of the African American Youth Wellness Lab (AAYWL) at UNC for their assistance. Funding for this project was provided by a grant from the National Science Foundation (SES-0932268).

For further information Please contact jonessc@email.unc.edu. More information on this and related projects can be obtained at http://www.unc.edu/~eneblett/projects.html .

Mood

Rating

Blatant

Neutral

Subtle

F

Pleasant

M

1.79

6.49

2.60

360.55

SD (1.28) (1.64) (1.56)

Distressed M 6.13 1.84 5.15 169.45

SD (2.10) (1.45) (2.30)

Fearful M 3.95 1.38 2.45 80.52

SD (2.42) (.95) (1.70)

Self-

Assured

M 4.75 6.48 5.43 31.17

SD (2.41) (1.78) (2.14)

Angry M 7.50 1.34 6.80 514.39

SD (1.96) (1.02) (2.16)

Disgusted M 7.54 1.24 6.09 583.52

SD (1.89) (.74) (2.69)

Happy M 1.59 6.14 2.16 268.67

SD (1.21) (1.88) (1.42)

Tense M 6.84 2.13 6.22 250.96

SD (1.93) (1.66) (2.03)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1. Sex -

2. Age .14 -

3. Family SES -.11 -.05 -

4. Centrality -.05 -.02 .05 -

5. Private Regard -.08 -.06 .20* .64** -

6. Public Regard .14 -.08 .15 .06 .17 -

7. Assimilationist .02 -.01 .18* .25** .32** .03 -

8. Humanist .05 -.10 -.08 -.25** -.05 .18* .35** -

9. Minority -.04 .09 -.12 .01 .00 .07 .02 .22* -

10. Nationalist -.12 .04 .08 .45** .36** -.10 -.06 -.40** -.07 -

Four clusters each for blatant (Figure 1) and subtle (Figure 2) racism

Blatant Condition Clusters Subtle Condition Clusters

Centrality ns ns ns

Private

Regard ns

2.65

(1.01-6.93) ns

Public Regard ns

0.55

(0.32-0.92) ns

Assimilationistns ns ns

Humanist ns ns ns

Oppressed

Minority ns ns ns

Nationalist ns ns ns

Reference category: Cluster 1 ("Moderate Distressed and Angry")

Odds ratio (95% confidence interval)

ns, not significant

Centrality ns

0.50

(0.25-0.99) ns

Private Regard

2.45

(1.05-5.28)

1.97

(1.01-3.83) ns

Public Regard ns ns ns

Assimilationist ns ns ns

Humanist ns ns ns

Oppressed

Minority ns ns ns

Nationalist ns

0.42

(0.20-0.87) ns

Reference category: Cluster 1 ("Moderate Tense and Disgusted")

Odds ratio (95% confidence interval)

ns , not significant

Public and private regard predict cluster membership in blatant condition (Table 3)

Centrality, private regard and nationalist ideology predict cluster membership in subtle condition (Table 4)