Abstract
Social support is theorized to protect health against the negative effects of stress. However, findings are mixed regarding whether social support protects Black people’s psychological well-being against racism. The current mixed methods study examined racism-specific support (RSS)—social support in response to racism—in same- (Black/Black) and cross-race (Black/non-Black) friendships. We investigated whether 31 Black college students (Mage = 19.7, SD = 1.70; 74% women) had (1) racial preferences (same-vs. cross-race) for whom they sought RSS, and (2) whether perceptions of RSS’s helpfulness differed when provided by cross-race friends. Participants completed measures of emotional closeness to same- and cross-race friends and participated in focus group interviews discussing racism and RSS. Results found participants reported more emotional closeness to Black friends and non-Black friends of color relative to White friends. As predicted, 65% of participants preferred RSS from Black (vs. non-Black) friends. Participants’ qualitative responses (n = 21–24) revealed Black (vs. non-Black) friends were perceived to better understand racism. These findings suggest RSS from Black friends, specifically, might benefit Black college students’ psychological well-being.
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