The relation of racial identity, ethnic identity, and perceived racial discrimination among African -Americans

For African Americans, issues of discrimination, oppression, and belonging to a minority group may significantly impact their identity formation, and their cognitive and subjective beliefs regarding racial issues. Racial and ethnic identity models describe the quality of an individual's commitment to their racial/ethnic group. In these models, the achievement of a healthy positive identity includes examining racial/ethnic attitudes, exploring the culture and meaning of one's racial/ethnic group, and internalizing and committing to one's racial/ethnic group.;This study examined: (a) the extent to which racial identity and ethnic identity are distinct constructs in African-Americans, and (b) the association of racial and ethnic identity to African-Americans' perceptions of racial discrimination. The author utilized the racial identity model developed by Helms and Parham and the ethnic identity model developed by Phinney to guide the investigation.;Participants in this study were 167 African-American undergraduate students enrolled in either psychology courses or African American studies courses at a predominately White university (50%), and psychology courses at a predominately Black university (50%). Approximately 66% of the participants were female 30% were male. Participants completed a Demographic Questionnaire, the Racial Identity Attitude Scale-Form B (RIAS-B), the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM), and the Index of Race Related Stress-Brief Version (IRRS).;Pearson-product moment correlations coefficients were conducted to determine the relations among the racial identity subscales (pre-encounter, encounter, immersion-emersion and internalization) and ethnic identity. A significant positive relation was found only between internalization attitudes and overall ethnic identity commitment, suggesting that for African American college students, attitudes indicative of having resolved racial identity issues are associated with ethnic identity achievement. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that racial identity attitudes are more strongly associated than ethnic identity attitudes to African American's perceptions of racial discrimination.