The Role of Perceived Discrimination, Bicultural Competence, and Indigenous Language Learning on the Psychological Well-being of Native American Tribal College Students

The present study provides empirical support for the associations between two sociocultural assets—bicultural competence and Indigenous language learning—and psychological well-being. We found that perceived discrimination is consistently negatively associated with psychological well-being. Bicultural competence was consistently positively associated with psychological well-being. Indigenous language learning was positively associated with psychological well-being, although this directionality was not consistent across different levels of perceived discrimination. Furthermore, we explored how Indigenous language learning impacts the association between perceived discrimination and psychological well-being, and we found that the significant effect of perceived discrimination on psychological well-being is only significant when Indigenous language learning is low. Conversely, as Indigenous language learning increases, the effect of perceived discrimination on psychological well-being is diminished. Overall, these findings also underscore the importance of engaging with both one’s Indigenous culture and the U.S. mainstream culture to maintain psychological well-being.