Racial Stereotyping and Mental Health
Racial stereotyping, or Bayesian Racism, is defined as “the lay belief that it is rational to discriminate against individuals based on stereotypes about their racial group.” There is general consensus that stereotypes are not accurate and that this practice positively correlates with racial prejudice and a “desire to keep low status groups in their place” (Uhlmann, Brescoll, and Machery 2). There are many studies regarding racial stereotypes and the creation of educational and economic disparities between white Americans and members of minority groups. However, there are far fewer studies regarding the direct effects of racial stereotyping on the social development and mental health of members of minority groups. Among this small pool of research lies the assertion that racial stereotyping “undermines the development of peer relations.” This, in turn, negatively affects the social well being and mental health of those targeted by stereotypes, however, the margin is small and further research is needed.
The motives behind racial stereotyping were argued to be epistemically rational, as in “if one’s motive is to make an accurate judgment, then he or she is being rational from an epistemic perspective.” However, researchers concluded that the underlying motives of racial stereotyping go against the epistemic standard of rationality. People do not employ racial stereotypes when attempting to make an accurate assessment of another individual; rather, stereotypes are used in response to threats toward ego and attempts to justify inequality. Attempting to make accurate judgments of minority groups reduces the use of racial stereotypes (Uhlmann, et al 12). These specific motives play a large role in the direct and indirect effects of stereotyping of minority groups.
To coincide with the motives behind stereotyping is the genetic/ evolutionary basis for racial discrimination. There is an evolutionary basis that causes “in-groups” to be more willing to function within their own segregated groups and adopt hostility toward others (Fishbein 114). Members of the “in-group” develop hatred toward others based on their strong inter-connection. This behavior can be seen as a means of genetic survival. However, authority-bearing systems in place impact the effects of this behavior. Prejudice towards “out-groups” can be the result of a dominant group desiring to maintain power over others, a theory that also has evolutionary basis (Fishbein 115). This conclusion does not justify the use of racial stereotyping, but better explains how and why humans employ stereotypes.
Although the term “racial stereotyping” is relatively new, these underlying causes of discrimination have created large episodes of discrimination throughout American history. For instance, these were argued to be the same motives underlying Jim Crow Laws during the post-slavery era. All African Americans were seen as “freed slaves” who were completely inferior to whites, even if they had never been a pawn of forced servitude. Many of them were accused of crimes they did not commit and subject to brutal punishment. Mexican Americans were subject to similar struggles after Texas won independence and was annexed by the United States. Chinese Americans were labeled as “undesirable” and Chinese immigrants were prohibited from entering the states under the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Later on, the most well known occurrence of racial stereotyping took place: the internment of more than 110,000 people of Japanese descent during World War II (Jost 1014).
Researchers have concluded that events like these, as well as other factors, have led to concrete disparities between Whites and minority groups. There are three main types of disparities that have been uniformly discussed and researched in detail: higher education disparities, economic opportunity disparities, and disparities in access to affordable housing. There is general consensus that all three disparity gaps exist currently. There is a clear disparity between white students and minority students when it comes to enrolling in four-year colleges and universities. It can be argued that this is caused by, and leads to, economic opportunity disparities (Darden and Bagaka). Economic disparities can also be caused by a lack of affordable housing. Many government subsidized affordable housing units are barred from construction simply because people neighboring the sites employ racial stereotypes toward the people that will be living there, most often based on false pretenses (Tighe 966). Limited access to affordable housing also bars members of minority groups to receive a better education (Tighe 978), bringing this idea full circle. Surely these disparities affect those targeted by racial stereotyping, but they also lead to questions regarding how these gaps affect the social welfare and mental health of minorities.
According to research conducted by Williams and Willams-Morris, sociologists from the Institute of Social Research at the University of Michigan, these evident disparities impact those targeted in three specific ways. The first is poor living conditions. The racial stereotyping and discrimination employed against those residing in affordable housing hinder members of minority groups from experiencing the benefits of affordable housing (Tighe 978). This hindrance creates poor living conditions among these members, as well as extremely limited socioeconomic mobility. Poor living conditions have been directly linked to higher levels of depression. This concept has been deemed institutional racism and has been shown to create hostile and depressing environments (Williams and Williams-Morris 251).
The second way is inferiority. The ideology of inferiority is defined as “human population groups that are categorized and ranked with some being inferior to others” (Williams and Williams-Morris 244). Over time, some targeted members accept their inferiority as true of themselves. This can be directly related to impaired psychological functioning. Experiences of discrimination and inferiority can induce physiological and psychological reactions that can lead to adverse changes in mental health status (Williams and Williams-Morris 255).
The third way is unfavorable self-evaluations. This concept is called internalized racism. Internalized racism is defined as “the acceptance, by marginalized and racial populations, of negative societal beliefs and stereotypes about themselves” (Williams and Williams-Morris 255). This idea has been highly correlated with expectations, anxieties, and reactions that can negatively affect social and psychological functions. According to a study conducted by McCorkle at the University of Pittsburgh, internalized racism is related to lower self-esteem, less ego identity, symptoms of depression, and negatively affects the socio-emotional development of children whose mothers projected high levels of internalized racism (Williams and Williams-Morris 256). This led to more questions about inter-race relations and how experiences within peer relationships can impact mental health.
According to research conducted by Brondolo, et al at St. John’s University, racial stereotyping hinders the development of cross-race peer relationships, resulting in racial tensions. Peer relationships are important in emotional development and creating an environment of equality. These types of relationships are critical for access to economic and social resources and political power. If these positive relationships do not exist due to racial tensions, social health is negatively impacted (Brondolo, et al 373). Social health has been directly related to mental health. Negative social interactions between racial groups are related to negative effects on mental health (Brondolo, et al). This results in depression, negative moods, and anxiety. Negative interactions allow for racial tensions and distancing. Racial stereotyping provides for distinctions between groups, making it more difficult for people of different races to interact and work cohesively (Brondolo, et al 374).
There has also been much discussion and research regarding the “stressful” aspects of racial stereotyping. According to Okazaki, researcher from the Department of Applied Psychology at New York University, a race-based encounter, or anything perceived as racism, can act as a stressor that results in coping responses as well as psychological and physiological stress responses. These responses can lead to negative health outcomes. Racial trauma can also result in ethnocultural allodynia or “an abnormally increased sensitivity to enthnocultural dynamics associated with past exposure to emotionally painful social and enthnocultural stimuli.” (Okazaki 104) Those targeted by racial stereotyping may sustain a lasting psychological injury from victimization.
However, Carter of Columbia University suggests that in order to have an impact on the mental health of those targeted, the racism experienced must be negative, sudden, and uncontrollable for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms to occur. Carter contends that most racism experienced is cumulative racism, suggesting that there is little conclusive evidence to suggest that small-scale racism, such as racial stereotypes, cause mental health problems (Carter). There has been resistance on the part of mental health professionals to accept the idea of racism as a form of stress. This may be because the evidence suggesting racism is a stressor is not conclusive and that the role racism plays in mental health is relatively new to the field (Carter 73). It is also not clear as to whether or not experienced racism can be traumatic for those targeted. However, the study Carter cites does not encompass all aspects of racial stereotyping. It pertains only to the symptoms of PTSD and focuses exclusively on the detriments experienced by African Americans. Overall, researchers have found that overt and subtle racism conceptualized as stressors has a negative impact on the mental health of those targeted (Carter 73).
A more conclusive study was done, expanding the included aspects of mental health, as well as sampling a more diverse group of minorities. According to the study conducted by Nadal, et al at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, microagressions, or small acts of racism experienced over time, such as racial stereotyping, do cause negative mental health effects. In the study, a wide array of people of various ages and minority groups were asked to take a survey regarding the Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale (REMS). Participants were asked whether they experienced a particular microagression in the past six months. These microagressions were divided into various subscale categories: assumptions of inferiority, second-class citizen and assumptions of criminality, microinvalidations, exoticization and assumptions of similarity, environmental microagressions, and workplace and school microagressions (Nadal, et al 59). These same participants were then asked to complete a Mental Health Inventory (MHI-18). This particular survey assesses positive and negative aspects of mental health status and well-being. The inventory was also divided into subscales: anxiety, depression, behavioral control, and positive effects (Nadal, et al 60).
After much analysis, researchers concluded that there is a negative relationship between racial microagressions and mental health. Those who reported experiencing high levels of microagressions were more likely to exhibit negative mental health symptoms such as depression, anxiety, negative views of the world, and lack of behavioral control (Nadal, et al 62). Researchers were able to yield two major findings after analysis. First, participants’ REMS average scores were significant predictors of average MHI-18 scores. This suggests that higher cumulative experiences of microagressions may predict more mental health problems. Second, higher cumulative experiences of racial microagressions predicted depressive symptoms and negative worldviews (Nadal, et al 62). However, the study does have limitations regarding the somewhat small margin of correlation, suggesting that there may be other variables that attribute to the relationship between racial microagressions and mental health.
Although there is evidence suggesting a marginal relationship between racial stereotypes and adverse mental health effects, more research can be done. Much of the existing literature on this subject mostly deals with anti-Black racism and the experimental designs mostly include self-reports of past racism and current stress symptoms (Okazaki 106). This has made it “difficult to explicate the casual relationship between perception of being a target of racism and mental health” (Okazaki 106). However, laboratory-based experiments yield more quantitative results. The recreation of racism by researchers that can be directly studied is more accurate than past perceptions of racism when it comes to studying people’s reactions to racial stereotypes (Okazaki 106).
One proposal for further research would be to create experiences of racial stereotyping within a laboratory setting where psychologists would have direct access to the reactions of people of various ethnic backgrounds. These reactions could include indices of stressors and stimulants that can lead to mental health disorders. This would require sampling a rather large group of people from a wide array of ages, socio-economic status, educations levels, and of course ethnic backgrounds. These participants would experience a specific type of simulated racial stereotyping that coincides with the various categories of racism previously studied: assumptions of inferiority, second-class citizen and assumptions of criminality, microinvalidations, exoticization and assumptions of similarity, environmental microagressions, and workplace and school microagressions, etc. Psychologists would then be able to witness and document the reactions of the participants and conduct further analysis as to whether their reactions relate to indicators of mental health disorders in the short term.
The only problem with this proposed study is that it only pertains to indicators of mental health disorders and not later developed conditions, making it unlikely to be the most conclusive type of research. There is no simple solution to address this issue. There have been contentions made as to whether racism is experienced often enough to cause adverse effects on mental health in the long run. Carter makes the point that it is unclear as to whether or not racial stereotyping can be classified as traumatic and experienced in a high enough concentration to have an effect. In reference to all current literature on the subject, there does not seem to be a definitive answer to this question, requiring further discussion beyond the proposed study above, as it would be inconclusive regarding the long term effects.
Ultimately, racial stereotyping compromises the mental health and social well-being of members of minority groups. Those targeted are not able to engage in healthy relations with those who employ stereotypes, causing them to experience small forms of anxiety and depression. Racial stereotyping has negative effects on the social well-being and mental health of targeted members of minority groups, however the margin of relation is small. More research must be developed and conducted in order to make more conclusive claims regarding the relationship between racial stereotyping and mental health.