Feeling Stressed, But Giving Back: Using Black Racial Identity Profiles to Examine Differences in Race-Related Stress and Civic Engagement

Race-related stress and civic engagement have been notable reactions in the Black American community in response to racial oppression. However, there is a dearth of research examining the potential impacts of racial identity on race-related stress and civic engagement. To address this, we used latent profile analyses to uncover distinct typologies and examine three racial identity profiles (Nationalist, Multiculturalist, and Undifferentiated) and four race-related stress behavior based (perseverative cognition, secondary appraisal, anticipatory race-related stress, and bodily alarm response) and civic engagement outcomes in a sample of Black young adults ( N = 232). Results showed that the group that identified the most with their racial identity (Nationalist) largely had higher levels of race-related stress and greater civic engagement compared to those with an Undifferentiated or Multiculturalist profile. Implications for racial identity interventions and civic engagement are discussed.