A Systematic Literature Review on the Resilience Reported by BIPOC in the Face of Discrimination

The present study is a systematic literature review on the psychology of resilience, or the ability to bounce back after a difficult situation (Smith, 2008). Although resilience is a timely and relevant variable in social psychology, little is known about its connection to the racism-related experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). This review explores how resilience manifests in the BIPOC community and its influence on the identity of minority groups. Previous research has shown that BIPOC reports higher resilience (Carter, 2012); however, there is still uncertainty around its connection to discrimination. Through the analysis of nine final research articles, we examined four main questions: (a) What is the prominent definition of resilience?, (b) How is resilience experienced or manifested among BIPOC?, (c) How is resilience operationalized when experiencing oppression?, and (d) What are the limitations in the literature of resilience? Results shed light on the need to further investigate resilience as a protective factor against discrimination in the BIPOC community