Disentangling Longitudinal Trajectories of Racial Discrimination and Critical Action Among Black and Latinx College Students: What Role Do Peers Play?

Objectives: Critical action (sociopolitical action to combat social inequity) provides racially marginalized youth with a pathway to coping. Sociocultural factors (like experiences of racial discrimination and contact with racially marginalized peers) are integral for fostering critical action among racially marginalized youth, yet few empirical studies have explored these relationships longitudinally. This study examines: (a) longitudinal trajectories of critical action and racial discrimination among Black and Latinx college students, (b) whether racial discrimination or critical action predict the other's longitudinal trajectory, and (c) whether having Black and Latinx friends and ethnic-racial club participation strengthen these relationships. Method: These trajectorieswere assessed by estimating growthmodels with a longitudinal sample of 504 Black and Latinx college students. Results: Analyses revealed that racial discrimination significantly increased over the first 2 years of college, whereas critical action significantly declined. Additionally, racial discrimination predicted changes in critical action, but critical action did not predict changes in racial discrimination. Ethnicracial club participation slowed the decline of critical action. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the transition to college is associated with changes in racial discrimination and critical action and these trajectories are enhanced by ethnic-racial club participation. Implications of these findings are discussed.