A Systematic Literature Review on the Resilience Reported by BIPOC in the Face of Discrimination

The present study is a systematic literature review on the psychology of resilience, or the ability to bounce back after a difficult situation (Smith, 2008). Although resilience is a timely and relevant variable in social psychology, little is known about its connection to the racism-related experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). This review explores how resilience manifests in the BIPOC community and its influence on the identity of minority groups. Previous research has shown that BIPOC reports higher resilience (Carter, 2012); however, there is still uncertainty around its connection to discrimination. Through the analysis of nine final research articles, we examined four main questions: (a) What is the prominent definition of resilience?, (b) How is resilience experienced or manifested among BIPOC?, (c) How is resilience operationalized when experiencing oppression?, and (d) What are the limitations in the literature of resilience? Results shed light on the need to further investigate resilience as a protective factor against discrimination in the BIPOC community

Asian Americans Experience Microassaults During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Microaggressions are typically brief and common behavioral/verbal indignities that communicate a sense of hostility, derogatory, or negative perception towards a targeted group. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we observed an increase in the amount of microassaults, a more intentional type of microaggression, towards the Asian American population. In our study, we used a two-way 2x2 (Race: Asian Americans vs. White Americans; Time: before vs. during COVID-19) analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with repeated measures on one factor (Time) to determine whether there was a statistical significance between race in the experiences of microassaults before and during COVID-19. We used a self-report survey method to gather data from the participants. Overall, the findings from our study suggest that Asian Americans experienced an increase of microassaults during COVID-19 compared to before the pandemic. Moreover, this change in experiences over time was significantly different for White Americans. This study shows the importance of recognizing this phenomenon, and addresses the issues on inclusivity, cultural-awareness, and compassion. Moving forward, it is important that we are aware of social influences on race-related experiences among Asian Americans, and other marginalized communities

A Mediation Analysis of Racial Microaggressions, Poor Coping Mechanisms and Mental Health

Microaggressions are daily slights and denigrations perpetrated towards marginalized individuals. These invalidations are perceived as significant stressors for marginalized people. The bulk of research on microaggressions indicates that these everyday slights can have a negative impact on mental health. The current study examines the relationship between microaggressions, detachment internalized racism, and negative mental health symptoms of depression, anxiety and depression. Specifically, regression analysis was used to investigate the hypothesis that both internalization and detachment mediate the effect of microaggressions on poor mental health symptoms for PoC. Results indicated that for PoC, microaggressions was a significant predictor of symptoms of both internalization, B = .071, SE = .021, p = .000, and detachment B = .276, SE = .029, p = .000. Additionally both internalization B = .389, SE = .070, p = .000 and detachment B = .869, SE = .082, p = .000 were a significant predictor for poor mental health symptoms. Results support a partial mediational hypothesis. Microaggression was a significant predictor of poor mental health even when controlling for both mediators, B = .285, SE = .042, p = .000. Approximately 26% of the variance in satisfaction was accounted for by the predictors (R2 = .261). The procedure yielded a significant coefficient, B = .182, SE = .038, p = .000 with 95% bias corrected confidence intervals that did not include zero [.108, .256]. These results suggest that racial discrimination experienced by PoC exposes them to higher risks of both poorer mental health and negative coping mechanisms.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/durep_posters/1007/thumbnail.jp

Resilience in the BIPOC community: A systematic review

The present study is a systematic literature review on the psychology of resilience, or the ability to bounce back after a difficult situation. Although resilience is a timely and relevant variable in social psychology, little is known about its connection to the racism-related experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). This review explores how resilience manifests in the BIPOC community and its influence on the identity of minority groups. Previous research has shown that BIPOC reports higher resilience; however, there is still uncertainty around its connection to discrimination. Through the analysis of nine final research articles, we examined four main questions: (a) What is the prominent definition of resilience?, (b) How is resilience experienced or manifested among BIPOC?, (c) How is resilience operationalized when experiencing oppression?, and (d) What are the limitations in the literature of resilience? Results shed light on the need to further investigate resilience as a protective factor against discrimination in the BIPOC community.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/durep_posters/1073/thumbnail.jp

Critical action to redress systemic oppression: a person-centered approach

IntroductionIn 2020, public outcry against police brutality prompted many social media users to post black squares and use the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter (BLM). Many of the people who posted these squares were engaging in performative action in the sense that they failed to engage with BLM’s history and core principles. Drawing from a critical action framework, the current research seeks to more deeply understand what drives people to engage in more versus less impactful forms of action to resist systemic oppression.MethodsWe employed a mixed-methods and person-centered methodological approach with the goal of providing nuanced information about factors that distinguish among individuals who engage in different forms of action. Participants were 359 undergraduates who reported that they engaged in some form of action to support BLM.FindingsLatent profile analysis identified three subgroups (i.e., latent classes) in the larger sample, which we labeled (1) intentional action, (2) intermediate action, and (3) passive action. Participants in each latent class differed from one another in their sociopolitical attitudes, sociodemographic background, and level of action to support BLM. Through the qualitative coding process, the research team unearthed three overarching themes and a range of subthemes that help to explain why the members of each class engaged in different forms of action.DiscussionWe conclude by proposing a flexible intervention that may motivate individuals to engage in critical action to support BLM

The Slow Violence of Racism on Asian Americans During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Racism against people of Asian descent increased by over 300% after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in the United States, with one in five Asian Americans reporting direct experiences with overt discrimination. Large-scale eorts and resources initially, and quite understandably, prioritized investigating the physiological impact of the coronavirus, which has partially delayed research studies targeting the psychological eects of the pandemic. Currently, two studies tracked the unique relationships between psychosocial factors, such as experiencing everyday racism, and the self-reported wellbeing of Asian Americans in the United States and compared these associations with Latinx Americans. Study 1 (April 2020–April 2021) examined how Asian and Latinx Americans varied in their levels of wellbeing, fear of the coronavirus, internalized racism, and everyday experiences with racism. Study 2 (September 2021–April 2022) included the same variables with additional assessments for victimization distress. We used the CDC Museum COVID-19 Timeline to pair collected data from our studies with specific moments in the pandemic—from its known origins to springtime 2022. Results highlighted how slow and deleterious forms of racist violence could wear and tear at the wellbeing of targeted people of color. Overall, this research underscores the possible hidden harms associated with slow-moving forms of racism, as well as some of the unseen stressors experienced by people of color living in the United Stat

Presumed Illegal Microaggressive Experience (Prime): A Microaggression Targeting Latinx Individuals

In the US, people of color (PoC) are consistently the targets of microaggressions, a form of everyday racism (Pierce et al., 1977; Chavez, 2013) manifested in brief, commonplace, daily slights and indignities (Sue et al., 2007). After the 2016 elections, Americans immediately reported an increase in social tensions across racial groups (Pew Research, 2017). Latinxs, in particular, reported a steep rise in experiences with racial and ethnic discrimination (Gomez & Perez Huber, 2019; Jones et al., 2019), particularly around the context of immigration status (Santos et al., 2021). No previous research, however, has explored the experience of assumed illegality based on immigration status within everyday exchanges. To fill this gap in research, this thesis aimed to define and measure a Presumed Illegal Microaggressive Experience (PrIME) as microaggressions used in normalized rhetoric (e.g., casual conversation, jokes, confrontations, assumptions) weaponizing immigration status assumptions based on racial and ethnic features. Using two independent studies (n = 757; n = 252), I conducted factorial analyses (exploratory and confirmatory) to validate a new 6-item Likert scale that measures PrIME. Furthermore, I explored the impact of PrIME on mental health and also how frequent Latinx experienced these everyday slights to justify the scale construction. Our results validated the construction and development of the PrIME Scale, demonstrated predictive ability for mental health outcomes, and showed that Latinx individuals experienced higher PrIME than other racial or ethnic groups. The PrIME scale is introduced as a novel racial microaggressions psychometric that measures immigration-status-related attacks targeting PoC in the US. Limitations and implications are discussed

Grappling with Whiteness: Latent Profiles of White Racial Consciousness and Affect’s Impact on Critical Reflection

Understood from a critical consciousness framework, White racial identity development involves recognizing and combating White privilege and supremacy. The present study investigated the development of White American young adults’ racial identity through their racial consciousness and racial affect and their combined impact on critical reflection using a person-centered approach via Latent Profile Analysis (LPA). Participants were 716 White identifying participants (Mage = 21.00, SD = 6.20 years; 68% women) who ethnically identified as White (90%) or European American. Participants completed surveys about their White racial consciousness, affect, and critical reflection. The results gave a six-profile solution to understanding White racial identity that can be closely similar to the six statuses proposed by the model of White identity development. However, White racial consciousness is more complex than theorized. The six-profile solution contained insights into how White adults conceive of their Whiteness, both as a racial identity and emotionally. The most illuminating findings of the LPA are in the combinations of identity and affect. The results indicated that even though White individuals are high in racial consciousness, it does not necessarily mean they critically reflect on their privileged position. Further, there was no support for the influence of multiple marginalized identities in helping develop White racial consciousness

More Humane Immigration Policies Will Reduce Migrant Trauma: A Conversation with Dr. Alfonso Mercado

Hostile immigration enforcement policies and anti-immigrant actions against refugees and asylum seekers are causing trauma to migrant families and exposing them to dangerous living conditions on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. In recent years, stress from the COVID-19 pandemic has compounded the negative effects of these policies on the health of migrants.This policy brief outlines a conversation held with Dr. Alfonso Mercado, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine. He has conducted extensive clinical work in migrant tent encampments at the U.S.-Mexico border, and on Feb. 28, 2023, he met with migration policy experts and community leaders to discuss the detrimental mental health effects of the ongoing migrant crisis there. The conversation focused on the impact of key policies, such as the use of Title 42 on migrants' mental health and well-being

Bullying, Depression, and Parental Acceptance in a Sample of Latinx Sexual and Gender Minority Youth

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth of color—in particular Latinx SGM youth—experience higher incidents of bullying compared to heterosexual and cisgender White youth. These disparities oftentimes explain increased negative mental health outcomes, such as depression. Parental acceptance may be a particularly important buffer to the effects of bullying on negative mental health outcomes among Latinx SGM youth. In a sample of 1,005 Latinx SGM youth (ages 13-17), we assessed: (a) the prevalence of parental acceptance and bullying, (b) the influence of bullying on depression, and (c) whether the relationship between bullying and depression was moderated by parental acceptance. Results showed that, on average, Latinx SGM youth reported rarely experiencing parental acceptance, frequently experiencing symptoms of depression, and frequently being bullied. Findings revealed that parental acceptance and bullying were significantly related to depression. Furthermore, there was no interaction between parental acceptance and bullying on depression. Findings have implications for how different Latinx cultural values may be further considered to better understand Latinx SGM youth’s perception of their parental figure’s acceptance of their sexual and gender identity and its role on bullying and depression