Despite a consistent body of work documenting associations between racial discrimination and negative mental health outcomes, the utility and validity of these findings have recently been questioned because some authors have posited that personality traits may account for these associations. To test this hypothesis in a community sample of African Americans (n = 419, age: M = 43.96 years), we used bivariate relations and hierarchical regression analyses to determine whether racial discrimination accounted for additional variance in depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms beyond the role of personality. Bivariate relations between personality traits and racial discrimination were small and positive (i.e., rs ≈ .10). Regression results demonstrated that racial discrimination accounted for variance in depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress independent of personality traits (ps < .01). These results suggest that personality traits do not fully explain associations between racial discrimination and negative mental health outcomes, further supporting the detrimental impact of racial discrimination on the mental health of African Americans.

尽管有一致的工作记录种族歧视与负面心理健康结果之间的关联，但这些发现的实用性和有效性最近受到质疑，因为一些作者认为人格特质可能是这些关联的原因。为了在非裔美国人社区样本（n = 419，年龄：M = 43.96 岁）中检验这一假设，我们使用双变量关系和层次回归分析来确定种族歧视是否导致抑郁、焦虑和创伤后应激症状的额外差异超越人格的作用。人格特质和种族歧视之间的双变量关系是小而正的（即rs ≈ .10）。回归结果表明，种族歧视导致抑郁、焦虑和创伤后压力的差异，与人格特征无关 ( p s < .01)。这些结果表明，人格特质并不能完全解释种族歧视与负面心理健康结果之间的关联，进一步支持种族歧视对非裔美国人心理健康的不利影响。