The relation of ethnic identity, racial identity, and race-related stress among African American college students

The purpose of this study was to explore to what extent ethnic identity and racial identity are related constructs among African American college students by examining (a) the association Of racial identity to ethnic identity and (b) the relative and unique contribution of both constructs to race-related stress. Participants were 140 college African American college students (about 70% females) enrolled in two universities in a major city in the Southwest United States. Participants age ranged from 17 to 58 years (M = 24, SD = 6.8). In terms of educational level, 10% of the students were freshmen, 17% sophomores, 24% juniors, 19% seniors, 21 % graduate students, and 9% did not indicate their year in school. The following assessment instruments were used. Black Racial Identity Attitude Scale (BRIS-B) (Parham & Helms, 1081), the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Scale (MEIM) (Phinney, 1992), and the Index of Race-Related Stress, Brief version (IRRS-B) (Utsey, 1999). Endorsement of preencounter racial attitudes was negatively related to ethnic identity achievement, whereas endorsement of internalization racial attitudes was positively related to ethnic identity. Results also indicated that racial identity attitudes were related to the stress associated with experiences of racism at the cultural and individual level. whereas ethnic identity was not associated to race-related stress. Ethnic identity did not moderate the relation of racial identity to race-related stress.