Campus Location

Abilene Campus (Residential)

Date of Award

Spring 5-2017

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Science

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Richard Beck

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Larry Norsworthy

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Robert McKelvain

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between racial socialization, and how it mitigates the distress caused by microaggressions. Although overt racism is no longer socially acceptable, racism still occurs in a covert form called microaggressions. Research has shown that microaggressions causes negative effects on its’ victims the same as overt racism. Also, literature has shown microaggressions in the classroom and on college campuses cause feelings of isolation and inferiority in college students. Racial socialization is the process of being immersed in one’s culture to strengthen against negative factors. The construct of racial socialization is the idea of creating cultural defenses against discrimination and racism. The target population of this study was African American students at Abilene Christian University. Participants took the Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions scale to assess their level of perceived microaggression. The Teenager Experience of Racial Socialization scale assessed their level of racial socialization. Finally, the participants took the Kessler 10 distress scale, which assessed their level of distress. The participant took the surveys through Surveymonkey. The data was analyzed using correlational methods. The results showed the frequencies of microaggressions that occurred. The top three microaggressions from each subscale were displayed. Also, the results showed no correlation between microaggressions and distress. As well as, a positive relationship between racial socialization and distress. These findings were counter to expectation. The relationship between racial socialization and microaggressions must be further examined to better understand the factors that create a positive relationship. The examination of the role perceptions of microaggressions plays in its’ effect on the victim should be examined in further studies.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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