Role of Neuroticism and Coping Strategies in Psychological Reactions to a Racist Incident Among African American University Students

• Published in: Journal of black psychology Vol. 40; no. 1; pp. 81 - 111
• Main Authors: Pearson, Matthew R., Derlega, Valerian J., Henson, James M., Holmes, Karen Y., Ferrer, Rebecca A., Harrison, Scott B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-02-2014; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Africa; African Americans; Black American people; College Students; Coping; Coping strategies; Discrimination; Factor Structure; Forgiveness; Individual Differences; Neuroticism; Outcome Measures; Personality; Personality traits; Prejudice; Racial discrimination; Racism; Social psychology; Structural Equation Models; Students; Survival strategy; U.S.A; Undergraduate students; University students; racism; discrimination; personality; coping; structural equation model
• ISSN: 0095-7984; 1552-4558
• DOI: 10.1177/0095798412471682

A total of 562 African American university students provided data on individual differences in neuroticism; coping with a recent experience being the target of prejudice, racism, and/or discrimination; and psychological reactions to the incident. Higher negative affect, lower positive affect, more intrusive thoughts about the incident, and lack of forgiveness for the perpetrator were used to index distress in response to the racist incident. Using factor analyses, we determined the factor structure of the Brief COPE in our sample. Using structural equation modeling, we then examined neuroticism and each coping factor as unique predictors of reactions to the race-related incident. We documented that there were direct and indirect associations (via the selection of coping strategies) between neuroticism and the outcome measures. Neuroticism also moderated the association between particular coping strategies and reactions to the racist incident. There was also evidence for direct associations between various coping strategies and the outcome measures. The research, though preliminary, suggests the importance of neuroticism and coping strategies in understanding psychological reactions to being the target of racism.