bullying presentation

E M P I R I C A L R E S E A R C H

Perceived Discrimination and Peer Victimization Among African American and Latino Youth

Eleanor K. Seaton • Enrique W. Neblett Jr. •

Daphne J. Cole • Mitchell J. Prinstein

Received: 21 July 2012 / Accepted: 24 October 2012 / Published online: 4 November 2012

� Springer Science+Business Media New York 2012

Abstract Perceptions of racial discrimination constitute

significant risks to the psychological adjustment of minority

youth. The present study examined the relationship between

perceived racial discrimination and peer nominations of

victimization among 173 (55 % female) African American,

European American and Latino youth. All respondents

completed peer nominations of victimization status whereas

the African American and Latino youth completed sub-

jective measures of racial discrimination. The results indi-

cated that African American and Latino’s subjective

perceptions of racial discrimination were linked to nomina-

tions of overt and relational victimization when rated by their

European American peers. The results suggest that there is

consistency between African American and Latino youth’s

perceptions of racial discrimination and nominations of peer

victimization by their European American peers.

Keywords Perceived discrimination � Peer victimization � Sociometric ratings � Blacks � Latinos � Adolescents

Introduction

There is a growing body of research that has indicated that

minority youth may be the victims of peer victimization

because of their membership in racial/ethnic minority groups

rather than personal reasons (Lai and Tov 2004). Addition-

ally, majority adolescents have reported more instances of

personal victimization, whereas minority adolescents have

reported more experiences of ethnic discrimination

(Verkuyten and Jochem 2006). There is also burgeoning

research suggesting that the majority of African American and

Latino youth perceive themselves to be the victims of racial

discrimination using survey and daily diary methods (Gibbons

et al. 2004; Huynh and Fuligni 2010). Despite the similarities

between subjective perceptions of racial discrimination and

peer victimization due to race/ethnicity, no published research

has examined the consistency between these constructs

among African American and Latino adolescents.

The Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems

Theory (PVEST) model is the framework used in the present

study for examining the relationship between racial dis-

crimination and peer victimization among African American

and Latino youth. PVEST is a theoretical framework for

understanding the relationship between risk and protective

factors, challenges and supports, reactive coping, emergent

identities and specific outcomes (Spencer et al. 2003). The

model articulates the specific interactions among contextual

and personal risk factors, how individuals’ perceive chal-

lenges and supports, how risk factors are coped with, how

long-term coping contributes to emerging identities and how

these identities influence life stage outcomes (Spencer

2006). The model is comprehensive and recursive, which

proposes developmental processes for all individuals

regardless of race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status

or other demographic variables. Though PVEST is the the-

oretical framework adopted for the present study, the current

study is only examining specific aspects of the model among

African American and Latino adolescents. Consistent with

the model, we conceptualize racial discrimination as a risk

factor for African American and Latino youth. The model

also discusses the importance of the peer group, particularly

for adolescents (Spencer 2006). Consequently, we suggest

that being labeled a victim by one’s peers is a risk factor for

E. K. Seaton (&) � E. W. Neblett Jr. � D. J. Cole � M. J. Prinstein

Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina

at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

e-mail: [email protected]

123

J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:342–350

DOI 10.1007/s10964-012-9848-6

minority youth, which contributes to their net vulnerability.

The purpose of the present study is to examine the consis-

tency of two proposed risk factors: subjective perceptions of

peer racial discrimination and peer nominations of victim-

ization among a sample of African American and Latino

youth. Specifically, we examined the degree of consistency

between subjective reports of racial discrimination for

African American and Latino youth with nominations of

peer victimization from their African American, European

American and Latino raters.

Peer Victimization

Peer victimization is defined as physical, verbal or psycho-

logical abuse that occurs in or around school when adult

supervision is minimal (Graham 2006). Though conflict

among peers may be normative, victimization is distinct as it

includes the intention to cause harm resulting from an

imbalance of power between the perpetrator and the victim

(Olweus 1993). There are different types of peer victimization

with overt aggression including physical or verbal harass-

ment, whereas relational aggression includes the deliberate

manipulation of social relationships or social standing (Smith

et al. 2002). Victimization can also involve social category

memberships such as race/ethnicity (Verkuyten and Jochem

2006). Yet, the bulk of prior empirical research has focused on

victimization for personal reasons and has rarely considered

situations where children are treated negatively because of

their racial/ethnic background (see Deater-Deckard 2001;

Hawker and Boulton 2000, for reviews).

There is a growing body of research that has focused on

the victimization experiences of racial/ethnic minority

youth. One study indicated that 26 % of Hispanic students,

22 % of Asian students, 18 % of multiethnic students and

7 % of African American students reported that they had

been victimized because of their race, ethnicity or national

origin (Lai and Tov 2004). Another study indicated that

Asian/Pacific Islanders and African American students

reported more victimization than their Native American,

Hispanic and White peers (Felix and You 2011). Additional

research also has shown that minority youth report more

instances of victimization due to their race/ethnicity than

their non-minority counterparts. For example, one study

examined victimization among Dutch and ethnic minority

youth in the Netherlands, and the results indicated that Dutch

participants reported more instances of personal victimiza-

tion, whereas ethnic minorities reported more experiences of

ethnic discrimination (Verkuyten and Jochem 2006). Addi-

tional research conducted among Canadian students, indi-

cated that 17 % of elementary and high school students

reported that they had been bullied by a student from another

ethnic group, and that ethnic elementary students were more

likely to report ethnic victimization (Pepler et al. 1999).

Lastly, one study illustrated that ethnic students believed that

their fellow minority peers were more likely to be bullied

than their majority peers (Siann et al. 1994). Thus, growing

research suggests that one of reasons for peer victimization

may be membership is a racial or ethnic minority group.

Racial Discrimination

Racial discrimination consists of dominant group members’

actions, which are systematic and result in differential and

negative effects on subordinate racial/ethnic groups (Williams

et al. 2003). Prior research using survey methods has shown that

perceptions of racially discriminatory treatment are quite pre-

valent among African American adolescents. For example,

77 % of African American adolescents reported experiencing

at least one discriminatory incident in the past 3 months (Pre-

low et al. 2004), 87 % of African American youth reported

experiencing discrimination in the previous year (Seaton et al.

2008) and 91 % of pre-adolescent African Americans reported

experiencing at least one racially discriminatory experience in

their lifetime (Gibbons et al. 2004). Recent research has

examined perceptions of racial discrimination in online settings

and the results indicated that 32 % of African American ado-

lescents reported being the victim of online racial discrimina-

tion at least once in their lifetime with a small minority (*2 %) reporting some form of online racial discrimination every day

(Tynes et al. 2012). The empirical research has consistently

shown that the majority of Black youth perceive themselves to

be the victim of discriminatory treatment.

Prior research conducted among Hispanic or Latino youth

has shown that perceptions of discriminatory treatment are

prevalent. For example, approximately half of Puerto Rican

adolescents (49 %) reported perceiving racial/ethnic dis-

crimination directed against them in at least one situation,

and 47 % indicated that they were worried about being dis-

criminated against in at least one situation (Szalacha et al.

2003). Prior research also indicates that the majority of

Latino youth reported experiencing some form of adult and

peer discrimination with 12 % reporting daily incidents of

discrimination on 1 day or more (Huynh and Fuligni 2010).

In two other studies of Mexican-origin adolescents, most

reported at least one experience of racial/ethnic discrimina-

tion (64 and 76 %, respectively), and adolescents reported

that chronic incidents of insults, including derogatory ethnic

jokes, were the most stressful experiences (Edwards and

Romero 2008; Romero and Roberts 2003). Additional

research conducted among Mexican–American adolescents

indicated that most (94 %) adolescents reported at least one

experience of racial/ethnic discrimination, and 21 % had

often experienced racial/ethnic discrimination (Flores et al.

2010). Thus, racially discriminatory experiences appear to

be pervasive and ubiquitous for African American and

Latino adolescents.

J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:342–350 343

123

We examined subjective reports of racial discrimination

among African American and Latino adolescents. The bulk of

prior research has not distinguished the perpetrators of racial

discrimination, though Black and Latino youth experience

racially discriminatory treatment from adults and peers (Huynh

and Fuligni 2010; Rosenbloom and Way 2004; Fisher et al.

2000). In the current study, we examined subjective reports of

racial discrimination from peers in the school setting (Way

1997) to examine the consistency of peer victimization nomi-

nations with subjective reports of peer racial discrimination.

The Present Study

The current study examined subjective reports of peer

racial discrimination as predictors of peer victimization

among African American and Latino adolescents. Given

the burgeoning research documenting that minority youth

are victimized because of their membership in racial/ethnic

groups (Verkuyten and Jochem 2006), we assessed whether

reports of subjective racial discrimination from peers pre-

dicted the degree to which an adolescent was nominated as

a victim of overt and relational aggression by their peers.

Though peer nominations also could predict subjective

experiences of racial discrimination, the interest in the

current study is to examine whether subjective reports

predict peer nominations. The use of peer nominations was

consistent with prior research identifying which youth are

more likely to be victimized by their peers. Though the use

of peer nominations does not include an attribution for the

victimization, we include peer nominations from African

American, Latino and European American peers. We

anticipated that the use of intra and interracial nominators

would indicate consistency within and across racial groups.

We used a measure of peer racial discrimination (Way

1997) that was truncated to reflect five items (e.g., harass

you, pick on you) that were consistent with the peer nomi-

nations of victimization. The intention is to examine whether

African American and Latino youths’ report of peer racial

discrimination were predictive of their being nominated as

overt and relational victims by their African American,

Latino and European American peers. We controlled for

ethnicity in the analyses given that prior research indicates

racial/ethnic differences in reports of peer victimization (Lai

and Tov 2004; Felix and You 2011).

Method

Participants

Initially, 712 students in the 9th grade of a rural, lower

income community in the Southeastern part of the country

were recruited for participation in the peer relations study.

Of the total, 533 (75 %) returned consent forms and 426

consented to participate. Data from approximately 27

participants were unavailable so full data were available for

399 adolescents. The resulting sample included White

(N = 191), African American (N = 94), Latino (N = 79),

Asian American (N = 32) and Native American (N = 3)

youth. The Latino sample includes participants of Mexican

origin with a small minority from Puerto Rico, Honduras

and El Salvador. Approximately 19 % of adolescents

reported that their parents were never married; 32 %

reported that their parents had separated or divorced. The

majority of adolescents reported that they lived in a

household with two adults (47 % with two biological

parents; 30 % with a parent and a step-parent, grandparent,

or other relative); 23 % reported living in a single-parent

household. The study utilizes peer nominations as rated by

the White, African American and Latino participants

(N = 364). The study also utilizes perceptions of racial

discrimination from the African American and Latino

participants (N = 173), which includes an equivalent

sample of females (55 %).

Procedures

All students in the ninth grade at three high schools were

recruited to participate in the study, with the exception of

students in self-contained special education classes. A

letter of consent initially was distributed to each adoles-

cent’s family followed by a series of reminders and addi-

tional letters distributed directly to teens by school and

research personnel. Recruitment involved a description of a

study regarding ‘‘peer relationships and adjustment’’ with

no mention of ethnicity. Response forms included an

option for parents to grant or deny consent; adolescents

were asked to return their signed response form regardless

of their parents’ decision. Numerous adolescent-, teacher-,

and school-based incentives were used to ensure the return

of these consent forms. Consent return rates and consent

rates were not significantly different across ethnic groups.

Measures

Peer Victimization

Sociometric assessments were conducted to obtain mea-

sures of overt and relational peer victimization. Consistent

with prior peer relations research, adolescents were pre-

sented with an alphabetized roster of all grademates

(Franzoi et al. 1994; Inderbitzen et al. 1997; Matza et al.

2001), and asked to select an unlimited number of peers

that ‘‘get threatened or physically hurt by others’’ and ‘‘get

left out of activities, ignored by others because one of their

344 J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:342–350

123

friends is mad at them, gossiped about, or has mean things

said behind their back,’’ to measure overt and relational

victimization, respectively. The order of alphabetized

names on rosters was counterbalanced (e.g., Z through A)

to control for possible effects of alphabetization on nomi-

nee selection. Using sociometric procedures, it is possible

to obtain an ecologically-valid measure of peer status that

is not influenced by adolescents’ self-report. Data from

sociometric nominations widely are considered the most

reliable and valid indices of acceptance and rejection

among peers (Coie and Dodge 1983). Due to the unique

goals of this study, sociometric data were coded to reflect

the ethnicity of the nominator of peer victimization (Rock

et al. 2011). Specifically, three sets of scores were com-

puted by separately calculating summary scores based on

European–American peers’ nominations, African–Ameri-

can peers’ nominations, and Latino–American peers’

nominations. First, all nominations provided by European–

American peers were tabulated. For each sociometric item,

a sum of nominations each student received from Euro-

pean–American nominators was computed and standard-

ized within grade, yielding measures of overt victimization

rated by European American peers and relational victim-

ization rated by European American peers, with higher

scores indicating greater peer victimization. A second set

of scores then was computed in an identical fashion using

only peer nominations provided by African–American

peers (i.e., overt victimization by African American peers;

relational victimization by African American peers). Last,

comparable measures were computed to reflect overt vic-

timization by Latino peers; relational victimization by

Latino peers.

Perceived Discrimination

The frequency of discriminatory experiences was assessed

with the 21-item Adolescent Perpetrator Experiences Peer

Scale (Way 1997). This measure was developed from

qualitative techniques with urban, African American and

Latino youth and designed to assess unfair treatment suf-

fered by peers in their respective schools that may be

attributed to membership in a subordinate racial/ethnic

group (Way 1997). This is a self-report measure that

assesses the frequency of this treatment with no specific

time frame (a = .91). Participants were presented with a list of experiences and asked to indicate how often other

students in school treat them a certain way (0 = never,

1 = rarely, 2 = sometimes, 3 = often, 4 = all the time).

For the present study, a subset of five perceived racial

discrimination items were used that were indicative of

discrimination related to victimization. The items included

‘‘make fun of you’’, ‘‘pick on you’’, ‘‘call you names’’,

‘‘insult you’’ and ‘‘harass you’’ because of your race or

ethnicity.

Results

The correlations, means and standard deviations for the

study variables are presented in Table 1. Descriptive

analyses revealed that African American (M = 1.36,

SD = .74) and Latino (M = 1.39, SD = .70) youth

generally perceived low levels of racial discrimination.

Hierarchical regressions were conducted to examine if

peer nominations of victimization by multiple raters

were linked to subjective perceptions of peer racial

discrimination for African American and Latino youth.

Ethnicity was controlled before regressing measures of

peer victimization on subjective perceptions of peer

racial discrimination. Given the number of regression

analyses performed, a Bonferroni correction was used

such that results had to be significant at the .008 level

(.05/6).

Table 1 Correlations, means, and standard deviations for the

study variables

PD perceived discrimination, OV overt victimization, RV relational victimization, AA African American, EA European American, LA Latino

* p \ .05; ** p \ .01 a

n. 1 = African American,

2 = Latino

Variable Ethnicity PD OV by

AA

OV by

EA

OV by

LA

RV by

AA

RV by

EA

RV by

LA

Ethnicity a

–

PD .02 –

OV by AA -.36** .24** –

OV by EA .01 .41** .44** –

OV by LA .02 .20* .32** .46** –

RV by AA -.38** .19* .51** .35** .19* –

RV by EA -.04 .26** .42** .44** .33** .18* –

RV by LA .28** .03 .05 .21** .25** .04 .23** –

M – 1.37 .16 -.18 -.02 .25 -.29 -.04

SD – .72 1.26 .54 .93 1.22 .43 .94

J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:342–350 345

123

Perceived Discrimination as a Predictor of Overt

Victimization

The results for African American raters suggest that eth-

nicity, or being African American, was associated with

increased nominations of overt victimization by African

American raters (B = -.89, p \ .001) (see Table 2). The results also suggest that increased perceptions of racial

discrimination from African American and Latino youth

were associated with increased nominations of overt vic-

timization by African American raters (B = .44, p \ .001). In other words, the more African American and Latino

youth reported racially discriminatory incidents, the more

they were likely to be rated as victims of overt victimiza-

tion by their African American peers.

The results for European American raters were similar

in that increased perceptions of racial discrimination from

African American and Latino youth were associated with

increased nominations of overt victimization by European

American raters (B = .31, p \ .001) (see Table 3). The more African American and Latino youth reported racially

discriminatory incidents, the more they were likely to be

rated as victims of overt victimization by their European

American peers. The results for Latino raters regarding

overt victimization were not significant at the corrected

Bonferroni level (see Table 4).

Perceived Discrimination as a Predictor of Relational

Victimization

The results for African American raters suggest that eth-

nicity, or being African American, also was associated with

increased nominations of relational victimization by Afri-

can American raters (B = -.92, p \ .001) (see Table 5). In other words, African American participants were more

likely to rate other African American and Latino youth as

victims of relational victimization. The results for Euro-

pean American raters suggest that increased perceptions of

racial discrimination from African American and Latino

youth were associated with increased nominations of

relational victimization from European American raters

(B = .16, p \ .001) (see Table 6). Thus, the more African American and Latino youth reported racially discrimina-

tory incidents, the more they were likely to be rated as

victims of relational victimization by their European

American peers. Finally, the results for Latino raters sug-

gest that ethnicity, or being Latino, was associated with

increased nominations of relational victimization from

Latino raters (B = .58, p \ .001) (see Table 7). Latino participants were more likely to rate other Latino youth as

victims of relational victimization.

Table 2 Perceived discrimination as a predictor of overt victimiza- tion rated by African Americans

Predictors Model 1 Model 2

B Se B Se

Ethnicity -.89** .20 -.90** .19

Perceived discrimination – – .44** .13

Total R 2

.12 .18

** p \ .001

Table 3 Perceived discrimination as a predictor of overt victimiza- tion rated by European Americans

Predictors Model 1 Model 2

B Se B Se

Ethnicity .05 .09 .04 .08

Perceived discrimination – – .31** .06

Total R 2

.00 .17

** p \ .001

Table 4 Perceived discrimination as a predictor of overt victimiza- tion rated by Latinos

Predictors Model 1 Model 2

B Se B Se

Ethnicity .07 .15 .07 .15

Perceived discrimination – – .26 .11

Total R 2

.00 .04

Table 5 Perceived discrimination as a predictor of relational victimization rated by African Americans

Predictors Model 1 Model 2

B Se B Se

Ethnicity -.92** .19 -.93** .18

Perceived discrimination – – .34 .13

Total R 2

.14 .18

** p \ .001

Table 6 Perceived discrimination as a predictor of relational victimization rated by European Americans

Predictors Model 1 Model 2

B Se B Se

Ethnicity -.02 .07 -.02 .07

Perceived discrimination – – .16** .05

Total R 2

.00 .07

** p \ .001

346 J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:342–350

123

Discussion

The literature is clear that perceptions of racial discrimi-

nation constitute significant risks to the healthy psycho-

logical adjustment of racial and ethnic minority youth (e.g.,

Brody et al. 2006; Seaton et al. 2011; Umaña-Taylor and

Guimond 2012). In previous work examining the impact of

racial discrimination on adjustment, one concern has been

the extent to which perceptions of discrimination are con-

sistent with actual experiences of discrimination or unfair

treatment. For example, some have suggested that per-

ceptions of discrimination may be due to the impact of

mental health problems or other dispositional attributes

such as neuroticism (Gee and Walsemann 2009; Thompson

1987). In our study, we took an initial step in exploring this

issue by investigating the extent to which racial and ethnic

minority youths’ perceptions of racial discrimination might

map onto actual instances of victimization due to dis-

crimination. We capitalized on the strengths of well-

validated sociometric popularity methods to capture an

external, objective measure of victimization. We then used

peer nominations of victimization to evaluate correspon-

dence with African American and Latino youths’ percep-

tions of racial discrimination, while also taking into

account the race and ethnicity of the peer raters.

Perceived Discrimination as a Predictor of Peer

Victimization

We found that youths’ perceptions of racial discrimination

were associated positively with the increased likelihood of

being perceived by peers as victims of overt and relational

aggression, though the associations differed depending on

the race or ethnicity of the raters. In the case of overt

victimization, we found that individuals’ ratings of per-

ceived discrimination mapped onto both African American

and European American peers’ ratings of victimization

status, but not Latino peers’ ratings. With regard to rela-

tional aggression, we found that youths’ perceptions of

discrimination mapped onto European American peers’

ratings of victimization status. These findings highlight two

important points. First, the race or ethnicity of the peer

rating victimization status matters in our understanding of

the relationship between perceptions of discrimination and

peers’ ratings. Although speculative, the fact that African

American and Latino youths’ perceptions of discrimination

did not map onto Latino peers’ ratings of victimization

could suggest that Latino peers’ view of the social context

or ratings of what constitutes victimization due to overt or

relational aggression may differ from African American

and European American peers’ ratings of the same con-

structs. Second, the type of victimization under consider-

ation matters. The pattern of association between

perceptions of discrimination and peers’ ratings of vic-

timization was slightly different for relational aggression—

though consistent for European American raters. One

remaining question is the extent to which Black and Latino

youth experience relational aggression relative to other

groups. Sawyer et al. (2008) found that Black and Hispanic

girls were more likely to experience direct physical vic-

timization than White girls. Thus, the relationship between

racial discrimination and relational victimization may be

constrained by the low base rates of relational aggression

for African American and Latino youth.

Since we did not ask peers to specifically rate victim-

ization experiences that were due to racial discrimination

(leaving open the possibility that victimization experiences

were not racially motivated), it is important to consider

whether there are alternative explanations for why youths’

perceptions of discrimination might map onto peers’ vic-

timization ratings in the absence of actual racial discrimi-

nation. In other words, are there other reasons why youth

who perceive more discrimination might be more likely to

be perceived as victims even though they are not actually

victimized due to race or ethnicity? One possibility is that

perceived discrimination might be related to other inter-

mediary variables, which might, in turn, be related to

victimization ratings (i.e., the relationship between dis-

crimination and victimization status is mediated by an

unmeasured ‘‘third’’ variables). Prior work in the area of

racial identity suggests that high race central individuals—

individuals for whom race is a central aspect of their

identity—and African Americans with low public regard

who believe that others do not see African Americans

favorably, report experiencing more discrimination (e.g.,

Neblett et al. 2004; Sellers and Shelton 2003). It may be

that racial identity partially mediates the association

between perceived discrimination and perceived victim-

ization status such that high race central individuals and/or

individuals who endorse low public regard are more likely

to be perceived as victims or experience victimization. This

hypothesis suggests that there may be aspects of individ-

uals or maybe even ways that individuals interact with their

environments that make them more likely to be victimized

even though the underlying motivation for victimization

Table 7 Perceived discrimination as a predictor of relational victimization rated by Latinos

Predictors Model 1 Model 2

B Se B Se

Ethnicity .58** .15 .58** .15

Perceived discrimination – – .03 .11

Total R 2

.09 .09

** p \ .001

J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:342–350 347

123

may be due to non-discrimination related factors. This

suggestion should not be interpreted as a ‘‘blame the vic-

tim’’ approach; rather, we allow the possibility that indi-

vidual characteristics also may play a role in both

perceptions of discrimination and perceptions of who is

likely to be victimized. It is indeed possible that instances

of discrimination directly correspond to greater victimiza-

tion and also that individuals who report greater percep-

tions of discrimination may engage the environment in

ways that make them more likely to be victims through no

wrongdoing of their own. Scholars have suggested, for

example, that African Americans who have had more

experiences with discrimination may cope more assertively

(e.g., confronting or speaking out against such transgres-

sions; Barksdale et al. 2009; Krieger and Sidney 1996) as a

result of more opportunities to practice their coping rep-

ertoire (Neblett et al. 2004). Although these coping strat-

egies may be adaptive in their own right, they also might

increase the likelihood that individuals are targeted or

victimized for reasons that are unrelated to race. Such

hypotheses will require more refined methodology and

fine-tuned analyses for assessment.

Study Limitations and Future Directions

Although there are several strengths in the current inves-

tigation, there are several limitations to consider. First, we

have assumed that peers’ ratings of victimization status

serve as a reasonable indicator of youths’ discrimination

experiences. Since it is not standard practice to ask about

the reason for victimization, future studies would benefit

from taking the additional step of asking about victimiza-

tion due to racial or ethnic status. Second, while the

approach used in the present study relies on a view of

victimization that is not influenced by adolescents’ self-

report, it is important to acknowledge that ratings of vic-

timization status are themselves subjective ratings, and not

observable instances of actual discrimination. Future

studies may be strengthened by observational studies (e.g.,

audit studies) of youth interactions that are perceived by

youth to be related to their racial and ethnic minority status.

Such investigations might yield additional data about the

extent to which perceptions of discrimination map onto

actual observable behaviors (although this too will require

some level of assumption regarding the underlying reasons

for the behavior). Third, the overall levels of perceived

discrimination in our sample were relatively low. It will be

interesting to see whether the current study findings hold in

a sample with a broader range and frequency of racial

discrimination experiences. Fourth, the present study

examined perceived discrimination as a concurrent pre-

dictor of victimization status. Our understanding of the

temporal ordering of the association between perceived

discrimination and victimization status is necessarily

strained since our measurement of discrimination captured

instances with an ambiguous time frame, and peers’ ratings

of victimization status could reflect incidents of victim-

ization across a broad time period within or beyond a

1-year timeframe. Although we were interested primarily

in the cross-sectional nature of the association in this study,

it may be useful to examine how these relationships play

out over time. For example, one set of unanswered ques-

tions is whether the cumulative effects of greater levels of

discrimination are likely to translate into or have a cas-

cading effect that leads to a greater likelihood of becoming

victimized or a target of victimization over time, and if so,

by what mechanisms.

Conclusion

In this study, we used an innovative methodological

approach to examine the extent to which youths’ percep-

tions of discrimination might map onto actual victimization

experiences as measured by youths’ peers. Our results

suggest that youth who report greater instances of dis-

crimination are indeed more likely to be victimized by

others. Thus, it would appear that peers’ victimization

ratings could provide partial verification of youths’ per-

ceptions of discrimination. In light of the detrimental cor-

relates and impact of youths’ discrimination experiences

and peer victimization, our data provide additional support

for the contention that, indeed, perceptions of racial dis-

crimination matter. Although there is no need to legitimize

youths’ perceptions of racial discrimination in our view, we

hope that these data, in conjunction with the literature

describing the effects of victimization, can be used to

motivate further study of the link between perceptions of

discrimination and actual victimization due to race or

ethnicity. We also hope that the findings highlight the

continued significance of examining the impact of racial

discrimination on the developmental livelihoods of African

American and Latino youth.

Acknowledgments ES, EN and DC conceived of the study and participated in the design and coordination of the study. ES and DC

performed the statistical analyses. ES, EN and DC helped to draft the

manuscript. MP conceived and designed the larger study of which the

current manuscript is based and helped with the design of the man-

uscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Author Biographies

Eleanor K. Seaton is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her

major research interests examine the influence of perceived discrim-

ination on adolescent development, the development and content of

racial identity as it relates to in well-being, and the relation between

perceived discrimination and racial identity among Black youth.

Enrique W. Neblett, Jr., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He

received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology for the University of

Michigan. His major research interests include race-related stress,

health and resilience in African American youth.

Daphne J. Cole is a second-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Rhode Island. She

formally served as a post baccalaureate research assistant for 2 years

at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill under the

advisement of Dr. Mitch Prinstein, on exploring peer contagion and

adolescent health risk behaviors from a developmental psychopathol-

ogy perspective. She is currently under the advisement of Dr. Paul

Florin and her major research interests include various health risk

behaviors among multi-ethnic populations, risk prevention, and

community level health promotion.

Mitchell J. Prinstein is a Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Professor and the Director of Clinical Psychology at the University of

North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His major research interests include

interpersonal models of psychopathology, with a focus on peer

experiences that confer risk for internalizing symptoms and self-

injury.

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