Reactions to Racial Discrimination: Emotional Stress and Help-Seeking Behaviors

This study examines Black, Latino, Asian American, American Indian and Biracial participants' (N = 260) emotional and psychological reactions to encounters with racism, and the help-seeking strategies they used to deal with those reactions. This class of participants is important to study because its members are likely to live and/or work in racially diverse environments. Participants who reported direct experiences with racism had higher levels of anxiety, guilt/shame, hypervigilance, and positive emotions than those who did not. Racial harassment (hostility) was associated with more hypervigilant and anxious reactions than racial discrimination (avoidance). Help-seeking patterns indicated that people of Color were more likely to seek help from friends and family than from mental health professionals. Practice and research implications are addressed.