The associations between African American emerging adults’ racial discrimination and civic engagement via emotion regulation.

Abstract

The current study tested direct and indirect associations between racial discrimination and civic engagement via emotion regulation strategies. Differences between males and females were also explored. Method: African American college students (76% female; M age ϭ 18.42) participating in a university-wide research study provided self-reports of their racial discrimination experiences, use of emotion regulation strategies, and civic engagement attitudes and beliefs. Results: Greater racial discrimination was associated with less use of reappraisal (i.e., thinking about emotions in a different way) and, in turn, use of reappraisal was associated with greater civic engagement attitudes. The same association was found for civic engagement behaviors. However, reappraisal was associated with greater civic engagement behaviors for females and less civic engagement behaviors for males. Conclusion: The current study highlights the need to consider the role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies on college students' sociopolitical development and civic engagement. Public Significance StatementThe effects of racial discrimination on civic engagement suggests that African American emerging adults process racialized experiences in different ways. Use of reappraisal as an emotion regulation strategy appears to be a contributing and effective means of processing racial discrimination experiences.

Testing whether implicit emotion regulation mediates the association between discrimination and symptoms of psychopathology in late childhood: An RDoC perspective

“…Likewise, lower updating working memory performance in the face of emotional stimuli related to higher levels of discrimination. These results complement the literature suggesting emotion regulation as an intermediary mechanism between discrimination and adverse outcomes (Gill & Matheson, 2006; Riley et al, 2020), as well as the literature suggesting that late childhood to young adulthood constitutes a period where affective stimuli are particularly impactful for neurocognitive functioning (Ladouceur et al, 2009; Sperduti et al, 2017). If exposure to discrimination contributes to aberrant inhibitory function and updating capacities in the face of emotional stimuli at this age, youth exposed to discrimination could face stable alterations in the development of these functions that could contribute to risk for developing mental illness.…”

“…Emotion regulation abilities (which help with monitoring, modifying, or evaluating emotional responses to accomplish goals) have been proposed as mechanisms underlying part of the relation between discrimination and adverse health and functional outcomes (Gill & Matheson, 2006; Hatzenbuehler, Nolen-Hoeksema, & Dovidio, 2009; Riley et al, 2020). Emotion regulation contains explicit (effortful) as well as implicit (automatic) components (Gyurak, Gross, & Etkin, 2011).…”

Critical Reflection and Cognitive Empowerment among Youth Involved in Community Organizing

“…This finding relates to ongoing research into the important roles that negative emotions (especially anger) may play in sociopolitical development processes. Learning about and experiencing systems of oppression typically creates negative emotional reactions, and different ways of responding to these emotions are likely related to the opportunities that people have for engaging in efforts to work toward change (Riley et al, 2021). In one recent relevant study, Bañales et al (2021) found that students who experienced greater levels of exposure to information about structural racism and race-based oppression in school were more likely to engage in anti-racist actions than those who were not.…”

Perceived discrimination based on the symptoms of covid-19, mental health, and emotional responses–the international online COVISTRESS survey

“…One promising line of public health strategy may emphasize positive emotions which–for example, when “savored”,–try to enhance positive emotion regulation [ 49 ]. Such an enhanced regulation leads to a more functional reappraisal [ 50 ] and may, in turn, help in resisting discrimination [ 47 , 51 , 52 ].…”