Coping with racism: Qualitative profiles of adolescents' responses to racial‐ethnic discrimination

Adolescents employ diverse coping strategies to navigate racial-ethnic discrimination, yet research often overlooks how these strategies co-occur. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 33 African American, Latinx, and Asian American high school students living in the southeastern United States (55% girls, 45% boys; M_age = 16.03), exploring their responses to various forms of discrimination (e.g., interpersonal, vicarious, online) and perpetrators (e.g., peers, teachers, authority figures). Using ideal-type analysis, a qualitative method that identifies patterns by grouping individuals based on shared characteristics, four coping profiles were identified: Move-Oners (n = 11), who primarily rely on ignoring, distraction, and minimization; Shift-and-Persisters (n = 6), who exhibit more internal strategies such as cognitive reframing and maintaining a future-oriented approach rather than confrontation; Mildly Engaged Copers (n = 8), who balance selective confrontation with more passive strategies; and Flexible Advocates (n = 8), who frequently confront perpetrators and engage in broader advocacy. Demographic trends revealed that older adolescents and girls were more likely to be Flexible Advocates, while boys and Asian American participants were more likely to be Move-Oners. Findings underscore the need for a more nuanced understanding of how adolescents respond to discrimination, and implications for future research are discussed.