What goes around comes around? Holding racist attitudes predicts increased psychological distress over time

Abstract

Background: There has been a tendency for the academic literature, media, and practitioners to attribute prejudice — particularly extreme beliefs and the violence they can engender — to mental ill-health. Meta-analyses have found relationships (albeit weak) among these variables, but they rely primarily on correlational evidence. The reverse pathway, from holding prejudice to mental ill-health, has rarely been considered. Moreover, a third, unexplored, variable might cause both. To address these gaps, we investigate reciprocal relationships between holding racist beliefs – one form of prejudice – and mental ill-health over time. We further consider the possible operation of a third variable:..