Capturing the cardiac effects of racial discrimination: Do the effects “keep going”?

• We examine momentary and prolonged responses to racial discrimination (RD).
• RD involving a European American (EA) perpetrator versus an African American (AA) perpetrator leads to lower HRV.
• RD involving an EA perpetrator versus an AA perpetrator leads to marginally higher HR.
• Intergroup RD may have both momentary and distal effects on cardiac activity.

Racial discrimination negatively impacts cardiac functioning, but few studies examine the more distal cardiac effects of racial discrimination experiences. The present study examined the momentary and prolonged impact of lab-based intergroup and intragroup racial discrimination on heart rate variability (HRV) and heart rate (HR) in a sample (N = 42) of African American (AA) women across two days. On day one, the women were exposed to simulated racial discrimination from either a European American (EA) or AA confederate in the lab. On day two, the women returned to the lab for additional physiological recording and debriefing. Women insulted by the EA confederate exhibited lower HRV on day one and marginally lower HRV on day two. These women also exhibited marginally higher HR on day two. The HRV and HR effects on day two were not mediated by differences in perseveration about the stressor. The findings indicate that racial discrimination – particularly intergroup racial discrimination – may have both momentary and prolonged effects on cardiac activity in AAs.