Though considerable empirical work has documented the ways in which African Americans are dehumanized by other racial groups, there is no research examining how perceiving dehumanization (i.e., metadehumanization) is associated with the mental health of African Americans. In this study, we examined the indirect effect of racial discrimination on depressive symptoms through metadehumanization and explored whether this indirect effect was contingent on racial identity (i.e., centrality, private regard). African American students completed measures in a university lab located in the Midwestern region of the United States (N = 326; M_age = 19.7, 72.4% women). We found that the degree to which racial discrimination was indirectly associated with depressive symptoms through metadehumanization was contingent on racial identity dimensions. Specifically, the indirect effect of racial discrimination on depressive symptoms through metadehumanization was only significant for individuals who were relatively higher on centrality and private regard. This research suggests that the role of metadehumanization is stronger among African Americans who strongly identify with and have positive views of their racial group. We discuss these results in the context of social cognitive theories.

尽管大量的经验研究已经记录了非裔美国人被其他种族群体非人道化的方式，但尚无研究检验非人性化（即元性非人性化）与非裔美国人的心理健康之间的关系。在这项研究中，我们研究了种族歧视通过元人类化对抑郁症状的间接影响，并探讨了这种间接影响是否取决于种族认同（即中心性，私人关注）。非裔美国学生完成在位于美国（的中西部地区一所大学的实验室措施ñ = 326;中号_时代= 19.7，女性占72.4％）。我们发现种族歧视与通过元人类化而导致的抑郁症状间接相关的程度取决于种族认同维度。特别是，种族歧视通过超人性化对抑郁症状的间接影响仅对中心性和私人关注度相对较高的个人有意义。这项研究表明，亚非人类化的作用在非洲裔美国人中更加强烈，这些人强烈认同他们的种族群体并对其种族持积极态度。我们在社会认知理论的背景下讨论这些结果。