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Civic engagement is important for individual and community well-being. In the current study, we use survey data from a nationally representative sample to examine how sociopolitical attitudes, such as political cynicism, perceptions of institutional discrimination, and political efficacy, along with civic education relate to civic engagement among 593 Black youth, ages 15-25. We found perceived institutional discrimination, political efficacy, and civic education were associated with civic engagement, while political cynicism was not. There is evidence to suggest civic education may strengthen the association between perceived institutional discrimination and civic engagement. The present findings contribute to our understanding of how acknowledging systemic inequity promotes civic engagement among Black youth. Findings are discussed in terms of study limitations and future research directions.

Political activism is one way racially/ethnically marginalized youth can combat institutional discrimination and seek legislative change toward equality and justice. In the current study, we examine participation in #BlackLivesMatter (BLM) and advocacy for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) as political activism popular among youth. Participants were 533 Black and Latino college students. We found that both Black and Latino students reported more involvement in BLM than DACA. There were no gender differences in participation for Black students, but Latina women reported greater participation in BLM and DACA than Latino men. We also tested whether demographic characteristics, racial/ethnic microaggressions, and political efficacy predict BLM and DACA involvement. For Black students, prior political activism predicted involvement in BLM and DACA and immigration status predicted DACA involvement. For Latino students, more experiences of racial/ethnic microaggressions predicted involvement in BLM and DACA and political efficacy predicted DACA involvement. Findings highlight rates of participation in modern sociopolitical movements and expand our understanding of how psychological factors may differentially promote activism for Black and Latino college students.

Political activism serves as a protective factor to mitigate the negative effect of R/E discrimination on stress and depressive symptoms for Latinx students. For Black students, higher levels of political activism may exacerbate experiences of R/E microaggressions and relate to more stress and anxiety compared with Black students who are less politically involved. Findings point to the need for a deeper understanding of phenomenological variation in experiences of microaggressions among R/E minorities and how students leverage political activism as an adaptive coping strategy to mitigate race-related stress during college. (PsycINFO Database Record

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