Linking Racial-Ethnic Socialization to Culture and Race-Specific Coping Among African American College Students

In addition to the use of coping strategies generally shared by all Americans, research has shown that African Americans tend to make use of culture and race-specific coping styles that distinguish them from other racial/ethnic group populations. These coping styles are important for the negotiation of multiple types of stressors. Little has been written on the antecedents of culture and race-specific coping (i.e., Africultural coping and John Henryism). This exploratory online investigation sought to determine if childhood racial-ethnic socialization (i.e., a cultural practice and protective factor) experiences predicted present self-reported culture and race-specific coping among a group of African American college students ( N = 191). Results indicated that past racial socialization messages encouraging participants to engage in positive cross-racial interactions (i.e., cross-racial relationship messages) were positively predictive of spiritual-centered and collective coping. Racial socialization messages that prescribed how participants should cope with racism were negatively associated with prolonged, active high-effort coping (i.e., John Henryism). Ethnic socialization messages emphasizing participation in African American cultural activities (i.e., African American heritage messages) positively predicted spiritual-centered, collective, and ritual-centered coping. Finally, ethnic socialization messages encouraging participants to have respect for authority figures, retain close relationships with family members, and maintain a collectivistic orientation (i.e., African American cultural values messages) were negatively predictive of John Henryism. Taken together, childhood racial-ethnic socialization experiences are an important resource for coping during college.