Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Existing literature suggests that critical consciousness positively influences racial identity and decreases racially marginalized peoples’ susceptibility to internalizing negative beliefs and stereotypes regarding their racial group. However, these proposed associations remain largely theoretical in nature and have yet to be examined empirically. The present study addresses this gap by exploring the relationship between critical reflection, racial regard, and appropriated racial oppression. In a sample of 149 Black emerging adults, we explored the relationship between both private and public regard, critical reflection, and appropriated racial oppression. Our exploratory findings suggested that there was an indirect effect of critical reflection on appropriated racial oppression through private regard. These findings expand upon conceptual scholarship regarding the interrelations between critical consciousness, racial identity, and appropriated racial oppression.

Keywords

critical consciousness racial identity Black emerging adults internalized racism appropriated racial oppression

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anspach

(2018). The movement for Black lives sharpens focus in trump era. https://rewire.news/article/2018/09/13/the-movement-for-black-lives-sharpens-focus-in-trump-era

Anyiwo

Bañales

Rowley

S. J.

Watkins

D. C.

Richards-Schuster

(2018). Sociocultural influences on the sociopolitical development of African American youth. Child Development Perspectives, 12, 165–170. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12276

Assari

Moazen-Zadeh

Caldwell

C. H.

Zimmerman

M. A.

(2017). Racial discrimination during adolescence predicts mental health deterioration in adulthood: Gender differences among Blacks. Frontiers in Public Health, 5, 104. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00104

Bailey

T. K.

Chung

Y. B.

Williams

W. S.

Singh

A. A.

Terrell

H. K.

(2011). Development and validation of the internalized racial oppression scale for black individuals. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58(4), 481–493. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023585

Bañales

Marchand

A. D.

Skinner

O. D.

Anyiwo

Rowley

S. J.

Kurtz‐Costes

(2020). Black adolescents’ critical reflection development: Parents’ racial socialization and attributions about race achievement gaps. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 30(Suppl 2), 403–417. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12485

Bowman Williams

Mezey

Singh

L. O.

(2021). #BlackLivesMatter—Getting from contemporary social movements to structural change. https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/2387

Briggs

A. S.

Hope

E. C.

Cryer-Coupet

Q. R.

(2023). Patterns of critical consciousness and associations with sociocultural factors in black adolescents. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 33(2), 313–331. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2658

Brody

Chen

Murry

V. M.

Simons

R. L.

Gibbons

E. X.

Gerrard

Cutrona

C. E.

(2006). Perceived discrimination and the adjustment of African American youths: A five-year longitudinal analysis with contextual moderation effects. Child Development, 77(5), 1170–1189. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00927.x

Broman

C. L.

(1997). Race-related factors and life satisfaction among African Americans. Journal of Black Psychology, 23(1), 36–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/00957984970231004

10.

Brush

P. S.

(2001). Problematizing the race consciousness of women of color. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 27(1), 171–198. https://doi.org/10.1086/495676

11.

Bryant-Davis

Comas-Diaz

(2016). Womanist and mujerista psychologies: Voices of fire, acts of courage. American Psychological Association.

12.

Campón

R. R.

Carter

R. T.

(2015). The appropriated racial oppression scale: Development and validation. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 21(4), 497–506. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000037

13.

Carter

R. T.

(2007). Racism and psychological and emotional injury: Recognizing and assessing race-based traumatic stress. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(1), 13–105. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000006292033

14.

Casey-Cannon

Coleman

H. L. K.

Knudtson

L. F.

Velazquez

C. C.

(2011). Three ethnic and racial identity measures: Concurrent and divergent validity for diverse adolescents. Identity, 11(1), 64–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/15283488.2011.540739

15.

Charles

C. Z.

Kramer

R. A.

Torres

K. C.

Brunn-Bevel

R. J.

(2015). Intragroup heterogeneity and blackness: Effects of racial classification, immigrant origins, social class, and social context on the racial identity of elite college students. Race and Social Problems, 7(4), 281–299. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-015-9157-2

16.

Chavis

Johnson

(2023). Internalized racism and racial self-identity formation in black children. Pediatrics, 152(2), Article e2023061292. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2023-061292

17.

Christophe

N. K.

Martin Romero

M. Y.

Hope

Stein

G. L.

(2022). Critical civic engagement in black college students: Interplay between discrimination, centrality, and preparation for bias. The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 92(2), 144–153. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000600

18.

Cogburn

C. D.

Roberts

S. K.

Ransome

Addy

Hansen

Jordan

(2024). The impact of racism on Black American mental health. The Lancet. Psychiatry, 11(1), 56–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(23)00361

19.

Cokley

K. O.

Helm

(2001). Testing the construct validity of scores on the multidimensional inventory of Black identity. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 34(2), 80–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481756.2001.120690259

20.

Coley

S. L.

Mendes de Leon

C. F.

Ward

E. C.

Barnes

L. L.

Skarupski

K. A.

Jacobs

E. A.

(2017). Perceived discrimination and health-related quality-of-life: Gender differences among older African Americans. Quality of Life Research: An International Journal of Quality of Life Aspects of Treatment, Care and Rehabilitation, 26(12), 3449–3458. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-017-1663-9

21.

Cotton

M. R.

Conroy Busch

H. E.

Silva

Amarneh

D. Y.

Zvolensky

M. J.

Obasi

E. M.

Viana

A. G.

(2025). Racial regard and internalizing symptoms among Black youth: Indirect effects through expressive suppression. Journal of Black Psychology, 0(0), 683–713. https://doi.org/10.1177/00957984251358622

22.

Diemer

M. A.

(2009). Pathways to occupational attainment among poor youth of color: The role of sociopolitical development. The Counseling Psychologist, 37(1), 6–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000007309858

23.

Diemer

M. A.

Frisby

M. B.

Pinedo

Bardelli

Elliot

Harris

Voight

A. M.

(2020). Development of the short critical consciousness scale (ShoCCS). Applied Developmental Science, 26(3), 409–425. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2020.1834394

24.

Diemer

M. A.

(2011). Critical consciousness and political engagement among marginalized youth. Child Development, 82(6), 1815–1833. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01650.x

25.

Diemer

M. A.

Rapa

L. J.

(2016). Unraveling the complexity of critical consciousness, political efficacy, and political action among marginalized adolescents. Child Development, 87(1), 221–238. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12446

26.

Diemer

M. A.

Rapa

L. J.

Park

Perry

J. C.

(2014). Development and validation of the critical consciousness scale. Youth & Society, 49(4), 461–483. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X14538289

27.

Diemer

M. A.

Rapa

L. J.

Park

C. J.

Perry

J. C.

(2017). Development and validation of the Critical Consciousness Scale. Youth & Society, 49(4), 461–483. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X14538289

28.

Diemer

M. A.

Rapa

L. J.

Voight

A. M.

McWhirter

E. H.

(2016). Critical consciousness: A developmental approach to addressing marginalization and oppression. Child Development Perspectives, 10(4), 216–221. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12193

29.

Dong

Peng

C.-Y. J.

(2013). Principled missing data methods for researchers. SpringerPlus, 2, 222. https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-2-222

30.

Faul

Erdfelder

Buchner

Lang

A.-G.

(2009). Statistical power analyses using GPower 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods, 41(4), 1149–1160. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.41.4.1149

31.

Freire

(1973). Education for critical consciousness. Seabury Press.

32.

Freire

(1993). Pedagogy of the oppressed: Continuum.

33.

Gale

Johnson

N. C.

Golden

Channey

Marchand

A. D.

Anyiwo

Byrd

C. M.

(2025). Reflecting on change: Critical consciousness as a protective factor for black youth. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 31(1), 110–117. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000612

34.

Gutiérrez

L. M.

(1995). Understanding the empowerment process: Does consciousness make a difference? Social Work Research, 19(4), 229–237.

35.

Hayes

A. F.

(2017). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis second edition: A regression-based approach. Guilford.

36.

Heberle

A. E.

Rapa

L. J.

Farago

(2020). Critical consciousness in children and adolescents: A systematic review, critical assessment, and recommendations for future research. Psychological Bulletin, 146(6), 525–551. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000230

37.

Hipolito-Delgado

Zion

(2015). Igniting the fire within marginalized youth: The role of critical civic inquiry in fostering ethnic identity and civic self-efficacy. Urban Education, 52(6), 699–717. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085915574524

38.

Hoffman

Granger

Vallejos

Moats

(2016). An existential–humanistic perspective on Black lives matter and contemporary protest movements. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 56(6), 595–611. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167816652273

39.

Hooks

(1989). Talking back: Thinking feminist, thinking Black. South End.

40.

Hughes

Rodriguez

Smith

E. P.

Johnson

D. J.

Stevenson

H. C.

Spicer

(2006). Parents’ ethnic–racial socialization practices: A review of research and directions for future study. Developmental Psychology, 42(5), 747–770. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.42.5.747

41.

Jones

J. M.

(2023). Surviving while Black: Systemic racism and psychological resilience. Annual Review of Psychology, 74(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-020822-052232

42.

Jones

S. C. T.

Neblett

E. W.

(2016). Racial–ethnic protective factors and mechanisms in psychosocial prevention and intervention programs for Black youth. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 19(2), 134–161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-016-0201-6

43.

Kim

H. Y.

(2013). Statistical notes for clinical researchers: Assessing normal distribution (2) using skewness and kurtosis. Restorative Dentistry & Endodontics, 38(1), 52–54. https://doi.org/10.5395/rde.2013.38.1.52

44.

Landrine

Klonoff

E. A.

(1996). The schedule of racist events: A measure of racial discrimination and a study of its negative physical and mental health consequences. Journal of Black Psychology, 22(2), 144–168. https://doi.org/10.1177/00957984960222002

45.

Lee

D. L.

Ahn

(2013). The relation of racial identity, ethnic identity, and racial socialization to discrimination–distress: A meta-analysis of Black Americans. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031275

46.

Little

R. J. A.

(1988). A test of missing completely at random for multivariate data with missing values. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83(404), 1198–1202. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1988.10478722

47.

Loyd

A. B.

Humphries

M. L.

Moore

Owens

C. L.

Smith

A. M.

Williams

(2024). Identifying risk and protective factors in research on mental health and Black American adolescents: 1990 through 2022. Journal of Black Psychology, 50(4), 448–475. https://doi.org/10.1177/00957984241249360

48.

Maker Castro

Wray-Lake

Cohen

A. K.

(2022). Critical consciousness and wellbeing in adolescents and young adults: A systematic review. Adolescent Research Review, 7(4), 499–522. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-022-00188-3

49.

Maxwell

Brevard

Abrams

Belgrave

(2014). What's color got to do with it? Skin color, skin color satisfaction, racial identity, and internalized racism among African American college students. Journal of Black Psychology, 46(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798414542299

50.

Meade

A. W.

Craig

S. B.

(2012). Identifying careless responses in survey data. Psychological Methods, 17(3), 437–455. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028085

51.

Mosley

D. V.

Hargons

C. N.

Meiller

Angyal

Wheeler

Davis

Stevens-Watkins

(2021). Critical consciousness of anti-black racism: A practical model to prevent and resist racial trauma. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 68(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000430

52.

Neville

H. A.

Coleman

M. N.

Falconer

J. W.

Holmes

(2005). Color-blind racial ideology and psychological false consciousness among African Americans. Journal of Black Psychology, 31(1), 27–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798404268287

53.

Neville

H. A.

Cross

W. E.

Jr. (2017). Racial awakening: Epiphanies and encounters in Black racial identity. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 23(1), 102–108. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000105

54.

O’Connor

(1997). Dispositions toward (collective) struggle and educational resilience in the inner city: A case analysis of six African-American high school students. American Educational Research Journal, 34(4), 593–632. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312034004593

55.

Ongiri

A. A.

(2009). Spectacular blackness: The cultural politics of the Black power movement and the search for a Black aesthetic. University of Virginia Press.

56.

Pascoe

E. A.

Smart Richman

(2009). Perceived discrimination and health: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 135(4), 531–554. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016059

57.

Perkins

Wiley

Deaux

(2014). Through which looking glass? Distinct sources of public regard and self-esteem among first- and second-generation immigrants of color. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 20(2), 213–219. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035435

58.

Phinney

J. S.

(1991). Ethnic identity and self-esteem: A review and integration. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 13(2), 193–208. https://doi.org/10.1177.0739986391012005

59.

Preacher

K. J.

Hayes

A. F.

(2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879–891. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.3.879

60.

Rickford

(2015). Black lives matter: Toward a modern practice of mass struggle. New Labor Forum, 25(1), 34–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/1095796015620171

61.

Robinson

Schumacker

R. E.

(2009). Interaction effects: Centering, variance inflation factor, and interpretation issues. Multiple Linear Regression Viewpoints, 35(1), 6–11.

62.

Rogers

L. O.

Rosario

R. J.

Padilla

Foo

(2021). “[I]t’s hard because it’s the cops that are killing us for stupid stuff”: Racial identity in the sociopolitical context of Black lives matter. Developmental Psychology, 57(1), 87–101. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001130

63.

Rowley

S. J.

Burchinal

M. R.

Roberts

J. E.

Zeisel

S. A.

(2008). Racial identity, social context, and race-related social cognition in African Americans during middle childhood. Developmental Psychology, 44(6), 1537–1546. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013349

64.

Sellers

Rowley

Chavous

Shelton

Smith Bynum

(1997). Multidimensional inventory of black identity: A preliminary investigation of reliability and construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(4), 805–815. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.73.4.805

65.

Seaton

E. K.

Upton

Gilbert

Volpe

(2014). A moderated mediation model: Racial discrimination, coping strategies, and racial identity among Black adolescents. Child Development, 85(3), 882–890. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12122

66.

Sellers

R. M.

Caldwell

C. H.

Schmeelk-Cone

K. H.

Zimmerman

M. C.

(2003). Racial identity, racial discrimination, perceived stress, and psychological distress among African American young adults. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 44(3), 302–317. https://doi.org/10.2307/1519781

67.

Sellers

R. M.

Copeland-Linder

Martin

P. P.

Lewis

R. L. H.

(2006). Racial identity matters: The relationship between racial discrimination and psychological functioning in African American adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 16(2), 187–216. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2006.00128.x

68.

Sellers

R. M.

Smith

M. A.

Shelton

J. N.

Rowley

S. A. J.

Chavous

T. M.

(1998). Multidimensional model of racial identity: A reconceptualization of African American racial identity. Personality and Social Psychology Review: An Official Journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 2(1), 18–39. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0201_2

69.

Singh

Javdani

Berezin

M. N.

Sichel

C. E.

(2020). Factor structure of the critical consciousness scale in juvenile legal system‐involved boys and girls. Journal of Community Psychology, 48(5), 1660–1676. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22362

70.

Sissoko

Lewis

J.A.

Nadal

K. L.

(2022). It’s more than skin-deep: Gendered racial microaggressions, skin tone satisfaction, and traumatic stress symptoms among Black women. Journal of Black Psychology, 49(2), 127–152. https://doi.org/10.1177/00957984221137957

71.

Sullivan

J. M.

Harman

Sullivan

(2021). Gender differences in African Americans' reactions to and coping with discrimination: Results from the national study of American life. Journal of Community Psychology, 49(7), 2424–2440. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22677

72.

Tabachnick

B. G.

Fidell

L. S.

(2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). Allyn & Bacon.

73.

Teran

Shin

R. Q.

Ashai

Keum

B. T.

Baig

(2024). Further development and validation of the contemporary critical consciousness measure-short. Research in Human Development, 21(4), 283–301. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2024.2405328

74.

Turner

E. A.

Harrell

S. P.

Bryant-Davis

(2022). Black love, activism, and community (BLAC): The BLAC model of healing and resilience. Journal of Black Psychology, 48(3-4), 547–568. https://doi.org/10.1177/00957984211018364

75.

Umaña-Taylor

A. J.

O’Donnell

Knight

G. P.

Roosa

M. W.

Berkel

Nair

(2014). Mexican-origin early adolescents’ ethnic socialization, ethnic identity, and psychosocial functioning. The Counseling Psychologist, 42(2), 170–200. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000013477903

76.

Umaña-Taylor

A. J.

Rivas-Drake

(2021). Ethnic-racial identity and adolescents’ positive development in the context of ethnic-racial marginalization: Unpacking risk and resilience. Human Development, 655, 293–310. https://doi.org/10.1159/000519631

77.

Utsey

S. O.

Bolden

M. A.

Lanier

Williams

(2007). Examining the role of culture-specific coping as a predictor of resilient outcomes in African Americans from high-risk urban communities. Journal of Black Psychology, 33(1), 75–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798406295094

78.

Utsey

S. O.

Ponterotto

J. G.

Reynolds

A. L.

Cancelli

A. A.

(2000). Racial discrimination, coping, life satisfaction, and self-esteem among African Americans. Journal of Counseling & Development, 78(1), 72–80. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.2000.tb02562.x

79.

Van DeBurg

W. L.

(1992). New day in babylon: The Black power movement and American culture, 1965-1975. University of Chicago Press.

80.

Walker

C. J.

Williams

C. D.

Santana

Hood

K. B.

Lozada

F. T.

Winter

M. A.

Corley

(2025). Processes underlying Black American emerging adults’ mental health: Examining the roles of mental health literacy, ethnic-racial identity, and self-care. Journal of Black Psychology, 0(0), 581–616. https://doi.org/10.1177/00957984251339933

81.

Watts

R. J.

Abdul-Adil

J. K.

Pratt

(2002). Enhancing critical consciousness in young African American men: A psychoeducational approach. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 3(1), 41–51. https://doi.org/10.1037/1524-9220.3.1.41

82.

Watts

R. J.

Griffith

D. M.

Abdul-Adil

(1999). Sociopolitical development as an antidote for oppression—theory and action. American Journal of Community Psychology, 27(2), 255–271. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022839818873

83.

Watts

R. J.

Hipolito-Delgado

(2015). Thinking ourselves to liberation? Advancing sociopolitical action in critical consciousness. Urban Review, 47(5), 847–867. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256‐015‐0341‐x

84.

Willis

H. A.

Sosoo

E. E.

Bernard

D. L.

Neal

Neblett

E. W.

(2021). The associations between internalized racism, racial identity, and psychological distress. Emerging Adulthood, 9(4), 384–400. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968211005598

85.

Zimmerman

M. A.

(1995). Psychological empowerment: Issues and illustrations. American Journal of Community Psychology, 23(5), 581–599. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02506983

Critical Reflection,Racial Regard,and Appropriated Racial Oppression in Black Emerging Adults

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References