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Investigating the Effects of Vicarious Racial Trauma Among College Students

Racial trauma is linked to issues such as psychological distress, lower well-being, anxiety, and depression. The present research investigated some of the potential effects of viewing overt instances of racially violent media on trauma and, in general, on the psychological well-being of individuals. Specifically, the present study utilized physiological and psychological measures to explore how different racial groups on college campuses are impacted by exposure to vicariously traumatizing stimuli when the victim is either an in-group or an out-group member. The present study posited that higher ethnic-racial identity can serve as a buffer to the deleterious effects of racial trauma. In addition, this study explored the role that ethnic-racial identity of the perceiver plays in this relationship. Findings indicate that Black students exhibited the greatest level of emotional arousal in response to both the neutral and negative video depicting a police officer. Black students were also more likely to watch or be exposed to vicarious, racially traumatizing content. Additionally, greater ethnic-racial salience was associated with increased physiological response to both neutral and negative, video content depicting police officers.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1707291
Date08 1900
CreatorsLatimer, Kyjeila
ContributorsNiemann, Yolanda Flores, Wang, Chiachih DC, Ryals, Anthony J.
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
Formatv, 54 pages : illustrations, Text
RightsPublic, Latimer, Kyjeila, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved.

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