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Reports of prejudice and discrimination against Arab Americans have increased since the events of September 11, 2001 (I. Ibish, 2003). Perceived prejudice events are recognized as stressors that are linked to lowered mental health for those who experience such events (e.g., R. Clark, N. B. Anderson, V. R. Clark, E. A. Klonoff H. Landrine S. O. Utsey & J. G. Ponterotto, 1996). Thus, this study examined, with a sample of 108 Arab American individuals, (a) the relationship of reported discrimination experiences to self-esteem and psychological distress and (b) the mediating role of sense of personal control in this relationship. Consistent with hypotheses, results of path analyses indicated that sense of personal control mediated fully the link of reported discrimination experiences to self-esteem and mediated partially the link of reported discrimination experiences to psychological distress. The path models accounted for 47%-48% of the variance in self-esteem and 33% of the variance in psychological distress.
Moradi et al. (Fri,) studied this question.