Race

Within psychology, race is generally accepted as a social construct that is shaped by power structures and prevailing norms; yet historically, the field included an essentialist view of race interpreting racial differences as fixed. Research suggests that there is more genetic variation within groups than across groups, leaving the argument that race is purely a scientific construct debunked. Therefore, examining how the field of psychology has and continues to navigate the construct of race, and how individuals perceive and experience race, discrimination, and racism, is of great importance. Racial groups vary by nation but in the United States are thought of as European or white American, African American, Asian and Asian Pacific Islander American, Latino, and Native American. Even though people are asked to check boxes with these labels, these racial groups are not clearly discrete but rather multidimensional and overlapping. The terminology is imperfect and fluid. Many psychologists have urged the use of “ethnicity” over “race” to create distance from the way race has been misused historically, while others are adamant they remain distinct terms. This argument is relevant, because these terms are distinct. A person can have both a race and an ethnicity. Ethnicity refers more specifically to ethnic, cultural, and sometimes national origin. Regardless of the terms used, our perceptions of phenotypical traits that might cluster by race and the implications of our social groupings are laden with prejudice, stereotypes, and unconscious bias, which we pick up from our environment (e.g., people, media, socialization, experiences). Racial identity, or how one thinks about themselves with regard to race, how one is socialized around race, and experiences of discrimination or racism, can also influence how one sees and experiences the world.

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