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. 2018 Jun;27(3):170-175.
doi: 10.1177/0963721417739348. Epub 2018 May 1.

Ethnic/Racial Identity-A Double-Edged Sword? Associations With Discrimination and Psychological Outcomes

Tiffany Yip  1
Affiliations

Ethnic/Racial Identity-A Double-Edged Sword? Associations With Discrimination and Psychological Outcomes

Tiffany Yip. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2018 Jun.

Abstract

Given the prominence of ethnicity/race in the United States, many youths construct an ethnic/racial identity (ERI). However, ERI development occurs against a backdrop of prejudice, oppression, and discrimination. This synthetic review explores (a) how identity and discrimination are related and (b) their association with psychological health. There is a reciprocal developmental association between ERI and discrimination, in which each informs the other. Although discrimination is detrimental for mental health, its impact depends on identity. In some cases, ERI confers protection from discrimination, and in others, it poses additional vulnerabilities. A strong sense of commitment to one's identity confers protection against the negative effects of discrimination, while high levels of identity exploration are associated with increased vulnerability. However, the importance of ethnicity/race to one's identity both protects from and increases vulnerabilities to discrimination. Suggestions for future research to help to disambiguate these associations are offered.

Keywords: discrimination; ethnicity; health; identity; race.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared that there were no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship or the publication of this article.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Schematic representation of the associations between ethnic/racial identity (ERI), discrimination, and psychological well-being. Path 1a depicts a positive association from discrimination to ERI. Path 1b depicts a positive association from ERI to discrimination. Path 2 depicts a positive association between ERI and psychological health. Path 3 depicts a negative association from ethnic/racial discrimination to psychological health. Path 4 depicts a positive and negative moderating influence of ERI on the impact of discrimination on psychological health.
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References

Recommended Reading

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