Perceiving Discrimination in “Real Life”: Distinguishing Negative Events From Discrimination Attributions

The present survey study examined a sample of ethnic minority preadolescents (ages 9-13) and made the empirical distinction between their exposure to peer victimization and the extent to which they attributed this to discrimination. Both peer victimization and the attribution to discrimination were associated with lower self-esteem and more emotional problems, but the discrimination attribution buffered against the negative effect of victimization on self-esteem. Our findings concur with the widespread evidence for the harmful consequences of discrimination but also show that it can be self-protective to make attributions to discrimination in real life.