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Cited by 1,336Racial and Ethnic Identity ResearchHealth disparities and outcomesGender, Health, and Social Inequality

Racism and Health I: Pathways and Scientific Evidence

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Williams, David R., Mohammed, Selina A.·2013·American Behavioral Scientist
DOI 10.1177/0002764213487340PMC PMC3863357
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Abstract

This article reviews the scientific research that indicates that despite marked declines in public support for negative racial attitudes in the United States, racism, in its multiple forms, remains embedded in American society. The focus of the article is on the review of empirical research that suggests that racism adversely affects the health of nondominant racial populations in multiple ways. First, institutional racism developed policies and procedures that have reduced access to housing, neighborhood and educational quality, employment opportunities, and other desirable resources in society. Second, cultural racism, at the societal and individual level, negatively affects economic status and health by creating a policy environment hostile to egalitarian policies, triggering negative stereotypes and discrimination that are pathogenic and fostering health-damaging psychological responses, such as stereotype threat and internalized racism. Finally, a large and growing body of evidence indicates that experiences of racial discrimination are an important type of psychosocial stressor that can lead to adverse changes in health status and altered behavioral patterns that increase health risks.

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Crossref · 10.1177/0002764213487340

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  • The experiences of racial discrimination that BIPOC individuals face affect different spheres of their lives, including their physical and mental health, ability to study and work, relationships, family life, finances, behaviors in daily life, and interactions with others.

    “Indeed, the experiences of racial discrimination that BIPOC individuals face affect different spheres of their lives, including their physical and mental health, ability to study and work, relationships, family life, finances, behaviors in daily life, and interactions with others”

    From Complex Racial Trauma: Evidence, Theory, Assessment, and Treatment (2023) · cites this paper as Williams & Mohammed, 2013

    The Experiences of Discrimination section links discrimination to physical and mental health outcomes and health-risk behaviors. The Cultural Racism and Health section discusses academic performance and economic opportunities, while the Discrimination overview describes employment and financial barriers. Our copy does not establish the claimed effects on relationships, family life, or interactions with others. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The framework of the process and impact of racial discrimination is similar to complex trauma in that racism is experienced at a sufficiently young age for BIPOC individuals and continues over the course of their lives.

    “This framework of the process and impact of racial discrimination is similar to complex trauma in the sense that racism is experienced at a sufficiently young age for BIPOC individuals, and it continues over the course of their lives”

    From Complex Racial Trauma: Evidence, Theory, Assessment, and Treatment (2023) · cites this paper as Williams & Mohammed, 2013

    The Experiences of Discrimination section (page unavailable) reports racial discrimination among fifth graders and adolescents and calls for studying exposure over the life course. It does not compare racism with complex trauma or establish that BIPOC individuals generally experience discrimination continuously from childhood throughout life; it says the effects of onset and accumulation remain unclear. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Authors
Williams, D. R., & Mohammed, S. A.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • University of Washington Bothell (US)
ORCID
Venue
American Behavioral Scientist
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2013-05-08
Volume
57
Issue
8
Pages
1152-1173
ISSN
  • 0002-7642 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-3381
DOI
10.1177/0002764213487340
PMC
PMC3863357
OpenAlex
W2130688509
Cited by
1,336
References
11
Citations by year
2026: 141 · 2025: 145 · 2024: 144 · 2023: 131 · 2022: 178 · 2021: 152 · 2020: 114 · 2019: 100 · 2018: 74 · 2017: 60 · 2016: 47 · 2015: 33 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 3
FWCI
98.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • American Behavioral Scientist (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • Harvard University
  • National Institute on Aging (R01AG038492, P01AG020166)
  • National Cancer Institute (P50CA148596)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Gender, Health, and Social Inequality
Keywords
racism, health disparities, institutional racism, cultural racism, racial discrimination, stereotype threat, internalized racism, psychosocial stress, social determinants of health

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