Functioning in the face of racism: Preliminary findings on the buffering role of values clarification in a Black American sample

•We studied values clarification as a buffer against racism-related stress.•Values clarification writing will ameliorate stress responses to racism.•Marginally significant effects were found on subjective units of distress•Medium-sized effects were found on positive and negative emotional responses.

It is important to determine factors that may buffer the negative psychological consequences of perceived racial discrimination in a Black American sample. One potential factor is attention to and clarification of what is meaningful for the individual (i.e., values clarification). Fourteen Black American participants were recruited from a larger study where they had endorsed having experienced racism-related stress in response to experiences of perceived racial discrimination from service providers, in addition to inclusion criteria. Participants were randomly assigned to a values clarification (N=7) or control condition (N=7) and were presented with a racism-related stimulus before and after the experimental manipulation. The effects of values clarification on self-reported distress, positive, and negative affect was measured. Condition assignment had a marginally significant effect on overall subjective units of distress with a large effect size. Medium-sized effects were found on overall positive emotional responses and overall negative emotional responses. If a larger sample size supports the trends revealed in this study, it would indicate that values clarification can help buffer the negative psychological impact of perceived racial discrimination for Black Americans.