Perceived Racial Discrimination, Social Support, and Psychological Adjustment Among African American College Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine three competing models of the relations among perceived discrimination, social support, and indicators of psychological adjustment in a sample of 135 African American college students. The three competing models, social support buffering, social support mobilization, and social support deterioration, were tested within a regression framework. The buffering model, which predicted that social support would interact with perceived discrimination such that individuals with high levels of social support would be protected from the harmful effects of discrimination, was not supported. The social support mobilization model, which predicted that support networks would mobilize to support individuals exposed to discrimination, was also not supported. Support was only obtained for the social support deterioration model, which predicted that social support would decrease for those exposed to discrimination. Perceived racial discrimination was associated with lower perceptions of social support, greater symptoms of depression, and lower levels of life satisfaction.