Resilience in Interracial–Interethnic Relationships in the United States: Assessing Relationship Maintenance and Communal Orientation as Protection Against Network Stigma

Abstract

Using the theory of resilience and relational load as a framework, this study examined whether a stress reduction or a stress-buffering model best explained risk and resilience in interracial–interethnic relationships in the United States when managing stigma from one’s social network. Eight hundred and sixteen Black and Latinx individuals in heterosexual relationships with a White, non-Latinx partner completed the survey. The stress reduction model was a better representation of individuals’ experiences in Latinx–White relationships and the stress-buffering model was a better representation of individuals’ experiences in Black–White relationships. For Latinx individuals, greater relationship maintenance received from one’s White partner and stronger levels of communal orientation were associated with reductions in stigma-related stress and conflict, which in turn, were associated with better relationship satisfaction and less relational load. For Black individuals, relationship maintenance and communal orientation moderated the associations between stress/conflict and the relational outcomes, but in unexpected ways.