Overt and Subtle Racial Discrimination and Mental Health: Preliminary Findings for Korean Immigrants
- 1 July 2007
- journal article
- Published by American Public Health Association in American Journal of Public Health
- Vol. 97 (7), 1269-1274
- https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2005.085316
Abstract
Objectives. We examined differential effects of overt and subtle forms of racial discrimination on 2 dimensions of mental health—positive affect and depressive symptoms, and explored the mediating roles of emotional arousal and cognitive appraisal. Methods. Cross-sectional survey data were collected through face-to-face interviews with a sample (N=180) of adult Korean immigrants living in Toronto, Ontario. Maximum likelihood estimates of path coefficients were obtained using structural equation models. Results. Perceived racial discrimination was associated with both the erosion of positive affect and depressive symptoms. Overt discrimination was associated with the erosion of positive affect, and subtle discrimination was associated with depressive symptoms. Effects of subtle discrimination on depressive symptoms were mediated through cognitive appraisal. Conclusions. The results emphasize the salience of subtle discrimination for the mental health of Asian immigrants. Experiences of overt racial bias seemed to be of little importance for the levels of depressive symptoms among those in our sample, although the experience of blatant discrimination tended to reduce positive mood.Keywords
This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- Experiences of discrimination: Validity and reliability of a self-report measure for population health research on racism and healthSocial Science & Medicine, 2005
- Two Forms of Racism and Their Related Outcomes: The Bad and the Ugly.Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 2004
- Perceived Discrimination, Social Stress, and Depression in the Transition to Adulthood: Racial ContrastsSocial Psychology Quarterly, 2002
- Answers and Questions in the Sociology of Mental HealthJournal of Health and Social Behavior, 2002
- Measuring Depression in Korean Immigrants: Assessing Validity of the Translated Korean Version of CES-D ScaleCross-Cultural Research, 1998
- Contemporary Forms of Prejudice-Related Conflict: In Search of a NutshellPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1996
- Subtle and blatant prejudice in western EuropeEuropean Journal of Social Psychology, 1995
- Racial ambivalence and American value conflict: Correlational and priming studies of dual cognitive structures.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1988
- Self-Interest versus Racial Attitudes as Correlates of Anti-Busing Attitudes in Louisville: Is it The Buses or the Blacks?The Journal of Politics, 1982
- The CES-D ScaleApplied Psychological Measurement, 1977