14. Tagung der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Psychologie

Investigating the Psychobiological Impact of Chronic Ethnic Discrimination in Turkish Immigrants Living in Austria

Not scheduled

20m

Track 1

Vortrag im Symposium Brückensymposium: Ambulante Messung und Intervention

Speakers

Andreas Goreis (Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna) Urs M. Nater (Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna) Ricarda Mewes (Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna)

Description

Chronic ethnic discrimination (CED) may negatively affect the health of ethnic minorities. In a lab study with an ethnic discrimination paradigm, Turkish immigrant men with CED (n=35) reported higher levels of perceived stress compared to participants with rare experiences of ethnic discrimination (RED; n=37) and had blunted cortisol slopes. Consequently, it is essential to examine the mechanisms and consequences of CED directly in the daily life of affected persons. We investigated CED in the daily life of Turkish immigrants via ecological momentary assessment (EMA).

Ninety male Turkish immigrants (66% CED) used iPods to report discriminatory events in real-time for 30 days. In addition, perceived stress, negative affect, and daily hassles were assessed daily.

In preliminary analyses of 46 participants, 57 discriminatory events were reported. Perceived stress, negative affect, and reactivity to daily hassles were higher in the CED group.

The possible dysregulation of psychobiological stress-related systems in participants with CED was corroborated by the findings of the EMA study. Together, these findings may demonstrate the distinct threat of CED for ethnic minorities.