Date of Award

Summer 7-29-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Research Psychology (MS)

Department

Psychology

Supervisor

Desta Gebregiorgis

Second Reader

Bethany Hoff

Third Reader

Jenny Lee Vaydich

Keywords

Posttraumatic Growth, Posttraumatic Stress, Racial Identity, Racial Discrimination, Social Media, Traumatic Events Online

Abstract

Racial discrimination is an unfortunate reality that people of color regularly experience. This leaves lasting impacts on the health of individuals and communities. With the increased use of social media, videos depicting violence against black bodies are widely circulated. The consequences of being exposed to these race related traumatic events online (TEO) can be damaging to the mental health of the black community, maybe even more so if one’s racial identity is important and salient to their overall wellbeing. Though witnessing these race related TEO often lead to posttraumatic stress, positive change may also be possible known as posttraumatic growth.

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