Examining the Role of Racial Identity Priming on African American Youths’ Emotional Responses to Racism: Exposure in the Laboratory Setting

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Jones, Shawn C.T.
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience

Abstract

Extending the literature investigating the vulnerability and protective factors related to racial discrimination among African Americans, two studies tested the hypotheses that: (1) using iconic images to prime racial ideologies would result in endorsement of congruent racial identity beliefs; and (2) priming racial identity with icons reflective of various racial ideological beliefs would differentially influence emotional responses to blatant and subtle vicarious racism experiences. In Study 1, participants were randomly assigned to a priming condition (assimilationist, humanist, nationalist), and initial support was established for the feasibility of using iconic images to prime racial ideology. In Study 2, an independent sample was randomly assigned to priming and discrimination (subtle, blatant, control) conditions. Significant findings emerged for both depressed mood and total mood disturbance, for both the humanist and neutral priming conditions. Implications for the use of iconic priming as an innovative approach to examining racial identity in context are discussed.

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