Semester Award Granted
Summer 2025
Submission Date
August 2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Geoffrey Wetherell
Abstract
Due to the minority status non-white students face in higher education, they are susceptible to social identity threat (Steele & Aronson, 1996), which may lead to psychological distress. However, social support, particularly from in-groups, offsets related distress consequences, e.g., self-esteem, anxiety, and depression (Haslam et al., 2021). This study investigates social support, through collective racial socialization, as a buffer for social identity threats to minority college students. I investigated Hispanics and Black undergraduates' self-esteem, using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1979), before and after stereotype threat, with participants in minority-centered organizations as the moderator. Results revealed that there was a significant increase in self-esteem after induced stereotype threat overall, and those who are in the organization was the driver of this effect.
Recommended Citation
Scott, Kaylah J., "IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT: BUFFER TO SOCIAL IDENTITY THREAT IN INSTITUTIONS" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 144.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general/144