Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, Vol 30(1), Jan 2024, 1-10; doi:10.1037/cdp0000245
Objective: To examine purpose in life (PIL) and ethnic identity (EI) as buffers to suicide ideation for Asian American, Hispanic, and Black emerging adults who perceive racial discrimination. Method: Two-hundred eighty-nine undergraduate students enrolled at a large university in the southwestern region of the United States (40.8% Asian American, 32.5% Hispanic, 26.6% Black; 61.2% women; mean age = 20.47, SD = 1.83) reported on experiences of racial discrimination, PIL, EI, and suicidal thoughts. Covariates were intrinsic religiosity, gender, and age. Results: Regression analysis showed that EI was not a significant moderator for the association between perceived racial discrimination (PRD) and suicidal ideation (β = −.08, p = .13; 95% confidence interval (CI) [−.19, .03]). However, PIL was a significant moderator (β = −.11, p = .025; CI [−.20, −.01]). A hierarchical regression showed that PIL as a moderator explained additional variance (ΔR2 = 0.11, p