An examination of the associations between racial discrimination and racial identity beliefs and the moderating role of psychological well-being among African American emerging adult first-year college students

The current study explored the associations between racial discrimination and racial identity beliefs (centrality, public regard, and private regard) and the moderating role of psychological well-being in these associations. Using the Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (Spencer et al., 1997) as the theoretical framework, the study aimed to determine whether higher psychological well-being was associated with more adaptive racial identity beliefs in the context of frequent racial discrimination experiences. Study participants consisted of 129 African American emerging adult first-year college students attending a Minority Serving Institution (mean age = 18.29, SD = 0.6, 82.2% women). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that racial discrimination was significantly and negatively associated with public regard, while psychological well-being was significantly and positively associated with centrality and private regard. Furthermore, psychological well-being significantly moderated the association between racial discrimination and private regard, revealing that the impact of racial discrimination on private regard varied depending on students’ levels of psychological well-being. Overall, these findings shed light on the complex relationships between racial discrimination, racial identity beliefs, and psychological well-being among African American emerging adult college students. The implications of these findings and the significance of investigating the potential role of psychological well-being in shaping racial identity and coping with racial discrimination are discussed