New research provides evidence that the psychological impact of racial incidents is related to White racial identity. The study suggests that those with a non-racist White identity tend to brush off negative race‐based experiences, while those who embrace supremacist attitudes or deny the significance of race are more likely to report distress.
The findings appear in the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development.
“As a Professor of Psychology, I study the psychological impact of racism on Black Americans and other people of Color. In some instances, experiences of racism can be so stressful that they meet criteria for traumatic stress or trauma,” explained study author Veronica E. Johnson, an assistant professor at City University of New York.
“The impact of these experiences can be extremely harmful leading to intrusive thoughts about the incident (e.g., nightmares, flashbacks), avoidance (i.e., people and places that remind you of the incident), and hypervigilance, among other symptoms. I, along with my colleagues, were interested in this topic because we know that White American people make claims that they experience stressful racial incidents (e.g., reverse racism) but were unsure if the extent of the psychological impact of these incidents met the criteria for racial trauma.”
In the study, 145 White adults completed a psychological assessment known as the Race-Based Traumatic Stress Symptom Scale. The participants were asked to describe three of the most memorable experiences of racism that had occurred in their lives. They then selected the one event that was the most memorable, and answered a series of yes/no questions about its impact.
The most commonly cited events among the participants involved race-based verbal assaults — such as being called a “cracker.” The second most common event was experiencing racism vicariously.
“We generally found that White Americans did not experience racial trauma. When Whites did report negative racial incidents, they tended to be vicarious experiences, where they were not the intended targets, such as witnessing a person of color experience racism, or violating racial rules (e.g., ‘Getting lost in a Black neighborhood and being told I was in the wrong area.’) These incidents rarely had a significant and adverse impact on psychological functioning. When racial incidents were psychologically impactful, they resulted in increased anger and hypervigilance,” Johnson told PsyPost.
The participants in the study also completed the White Racial Identity Attitudes Scale, which examines how Whites understand racial relations and how they incorporate race into their self-concepts.
“For the small number of White Americans who did report symptoms of racial trauma, they were also found to hold beliefs of White racial superiority and were generally naïve to systemic racism and White privilege. Therefore, it appears the White Americans most likely to complain of harm from racism, simply know little to nothing about it. Further, it may be that a belief in White racial superiority makes one particularly susceptible to White fragility, or expectations for comfort in cross-racial interactions and low tolerance for race-based stress,” Johnson explained.
“Understanding the way in which a White American thinks about race is important. White Americans who endorse racial trauma do not have a complex understanding of race in the U.S. and thus may erroneously equate their racial experiences with psychological harm. However, White Americans with a complex understanding of race, appear to understand that racial discrimination, while uncomfortable for them, is not connected to harmful and dangerous consequences (e.g., being murdered by police, being fired from one’s job, etc.) like it is for Americans of color.”
The study, “Race‐Based Stress in White Adults: Exploring the Role of White Racial Identity Status Attitudes and Type of Racial Events“, was authored by Robert T. Carter, Katheryn Roberson, and Veronica E. Johnson.