Role of Identity Integration on the Relationship Between Perceived Racial Discrimination and Psychological Adjustment of Multiracial People Kelly F. Jackson, Hyung Chol (Brandon) Yoo, and Rudy Guevarra, Jr. Arizona State University Blair A. Harrington Expeditionary Learning, New York This study examined relations between perceived racial discrimination, multiracial identity integration (i.e., racial distance and racial conflict), and psychological adjustment (i.e., distress symptoms, positive affect, and negative affect) of 263 multiracial adults, using an online cross-sectional survey design. As hypothesized, higher levels of perceived racial discrimination was related to lower levels of psycholog- ical adjustment (i.e., higher distress symptoms and negative affect). Also, higher levels of multiracial identity integration with low racial conflict was related to higher levels of psychological adjustment (i.e., lower distress symptoms and negative affect), whereas higher levels of multiracial identity integration with low racial distance was related to higher levels of psychological adjustment (i.e., lower negative affect). Finally, multiracial identity integration (i.e., lower racial conflict) moderated the relationship between perceived racial discrimination and psychological adjustment (i.e., negative affect) with results suggesting multiracial identity integration related to low racial conflict buffers the negative effects of perceived racial discrimination on psychological adjustment. Findings from this study are discussed in terms of future research on the psychological well-being of multiracial individuals and implications for clinical practice with multiracial adults. Keywords: identity integration, multiracial, psychological adjustment, racial discrimination A growing body of research suggests that strong identification with one’s racial group can serve as a psychological buffer against perceived prejudice and discrimination for racial minorities (Branscombe, Schmitt, & Harvey, 1999; Mossakowski, 2003; Sell- ers & Shelton, 2003; Wong, Eccles, & Sameroff, 2003). Despite increased efforts to understand ameliorative effects of racial iden- tity on monoracial groups, few researchers have examined this phenomenon within the growing population of multiracial Amer- icans. The absence of such research is troubling in lieu of evidence linking multiracial identity to positive psychosocial outcomes, including lower levels of stress and alienation and increased affect (see Binning, Unzueta, Huo, & Molina, 2009; Bracey, Bamaca, & Uman ˜a-Taylor, 2004). Scholars presume these newer conceptual- izations of multiracial identity as a psychosocial resource are associated with a multiracial individual’s ability to successfully integrate different racial identities (Binning et al., 2009; Cheng & Lee, 2009). Unfortunately, to the best of our knowledge, there are no empirical studies in which the conjectured protective qualities of an integrated multiracial identity on the negative relationship between racial discrimination and psychological adjustment have been examined. In the present study, we attempt to fill this gap by examining the moderating role of an integrated multiracial identity on the link between perceived encounters of racial discrimination and psychological adjustment of multiracial adults using an online cross-sectional survey design. Multiracial Defined The authors note that there are a broad range of generic terms proposed and debated to describe persons of mixed racial, ethnic, and/or cultural heritage (e.g., multiracial, multiethnic, multicul- tural, mixed heritage; see Aspinall, 2009). Due to our specific interest in the present study in investigating mixed identity expe- riences in context of an oppressive and racialized U.S. society (see Cokley, 2007), we have elected to use the term multiracial and focus our investigation on persons of two or more racial heritages (e.g., Black and White, Asian and Native; Root & Kelley, 2003). Persons who are multiethnic, or who self-identify with more than one ethnic group (Root & Kelley, 2003), were not included in this study because many who identify as multiethnic are of a singular racial heritage (e.g., German and Irish, Italian and Polish), and whose experiences based on common ancestry and shared tradi- tions, values, and languages (Cokley, 2007) range outside the interests of our study. However, we do include persons of mixed Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic/Latino heritages (e.g., Mexican and Black, Latino and White), because this group is frequently included in research on multiracial identity (see review by Ed- wards & Pedrotti, 2008) and has been found to share similar processes of identity development and experiences of racial dis- crimination with other multiracial groups (see Jime ´nez, 2004; Kelly F. Jackson, School of Social Work, Arizona State University; Hyung Chol (Brandon) Yoo, School of Social and Family Dynamics, Asian Pacific American Studies, Arizona State University; Rudy Guevarra, Jr., Asian Pacific American Studies, Arizona State University; Blair A. Har- rington, Expeditionary Learining, New York. This research project was supported in part by the Southwest Interdis- ciplinary Research Center (SIRC), a research unit of the College of Public Programs at Arizona State University. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kelly F. Jackson, Arizona State University, College of Public Programs, School of Social Work, 411 North Central Avenue, Suite 800, Phoenix, AZ 85004- 0689. E-mail: Kelly.F.Jackson@asu.edu Journal of Counseling Psychology © 2012 American Psychological Association 2012, Vol. 59, No. 2, 240 –250 0022-0167/12/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0027639 240