Racial Discrimination and Experience of New Possibilities Among Chinese International Students

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the coping strategies of internalization (e.g., attributing the causes or responsibility of racial discrimination events to oneself) and resistance (e.g., confronting others for their discriminatory behaviors) moderated the association between racial discrimination and experience of new possibilities for Chinese international students. Experience of new possibilities refers to the positive psychological changes associated with finding new opportunities after a traumatic, negative event such as racial discrimination. A total of 258 Chinese international students in the United States completed an online survey. Results indicated that an association between perceived racial discrimination and experience of new possibilities was significantly positive for female Chinese international students with a higher use of the internalization coping or a lower use of resistance coping. However, this association was significantly positive for male Chinese international students with a lower use of the internalization coping or a higher use of resistance coping.