Racial identity, or the significance and meaning that individuals attribute to race, is recognized as a key factor in how African Americans cope with racism experiences. Unfortunately, however, the few studies that have examined African Americans' responses to racist events have failed to account for differences across situations that African Americans experience, making it difficult to ascertain whether differences in coping are due to person variables, the situation, or both. In the present study, we adopted a stress and coping approach to examine the relations among racial identity, racism-related stress appraisal, and coping with lifetime racism experiences in a sample of 301 African American first-year college students. Participants were recruited from three predominately White Universities and one historically Black university. Students completed measures of racial identity, appraisal, and coping in small group administrations during their first semester of college. Participants were compensated for their participation in the study. To test the relations among the key study variables, a series of univariate analyses of variance (ANOVA) was estimated. I found that situational dimensions of racist events were related to appraisal and coping. Racial identity was related to appraisal and appraisal was related to coping, but these relations differed for men and women. Specifically, racial identity was related to appraisal for men, while appraisal was related to coping for women. I found some evidence of relations between racial identity and coping, but these relations did not hold when I accounted for differences across situations. Conclusions regarding the mediation effects of appraisal were inconclusive. The study findings suggest an interplay between person factors and situational characteristics of racist situations to determine how African Americans appraise and cope with racist situations. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of person-environment interactions that influence coping. Additionally, I discuss the implications of the findings for African American health. Although the face of racism has evolved over time, the significance and meaning that African Americans ascribe to race and perceptions of racist incidents are likely to play a critical role in protecting health against the harmful effects of racism.Ph.D.Black studiesClinical psychologyPsychologySocial SciencesSocial psychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/125723/2/3208522.pd
