Date of Award

12-31-2017

Document Type

Campus Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Clinical Psychology

First Advisor

Tahirah Abdullah

Second Advisor

Karen L. Suyemoto

Third Advisor

Alice Carter

Abstract

Research has supported that racism is an additional stressor that people of color experience, and is often referred to as race-related stress. Furthermore, there is evidence that Blacks in the United States of America (U.S.) experience race-related stress in particular ways depending on the identities they hold. Historically, most psychology research has treated Blacks in the U.S. as a monolithic group, rarely exploring the implications of the continuous ethnic shift in the U.S.’s Black population through immigration. Black immigrants from African and Caribbean countries and their children may hold different perceptions compared to African Americans on race and accompanying race-related stress due to their complex and divergent socializations. Experiences around race may also be effected by the colorblind racial ideology presented in today’s society. This study examined whether ethnicity has a role in how Black immigrants and their off-spring endorse race-related stress and racial-colorblindness compared to African Americans. Additionally, we explored whether the relation between ethnicity and race-related stress is moderated by the racial colorblindness endorsed. For analyses, participants (n=254) were placed in ethnic groups based on identifying the information they provided: Recent African Ancestry (RAA), Caribbean (CA), and African American (AA), for analyses. Results indicated significant differences for some of the ethnic group comparisons; the CA ethic group reported more racial colorblindness and less race-related stress than AA. The RAA ethnic group also reported more racial colorblindness. Contrary to our predications, there was no moderating effect. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.

Comments

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