Cohort Differences in Perceived Discrimination Trajectories among Aging Black Americans

This study examines how later-life perceptions of everyday discrimination vary as a function of cohort-level differences in exposure to three distinct racialized social systems across historical time (i.e., whether individuals experienced childhood and early adolescence during the Pre-Brown v Board Era, Protest Era, or Colorblind Era).

We used the Health and Retirement Study to estimate age-specific trajectories in 5-item Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS-5) scores and counts of discriminatory situations among aging Black Americans. We then examined the likelihood of trajectory group membership as a function of cohort-level differences using multinomial logistic regression.

Findings provide evidence of variation in EDS-5 score trajectories and in counts of discriminatory situation trajectories across birth cohorts. After adjustments, relative to members of the pre-Brown cohort, members of the Protest cohort are statistically significantly more likely to be members of the trajectory group characterized by high and rapidly declining levels of EDS-5 scores relative to a trajectory characterized by modest and declining EDS-5 scores. We found more evidence for variation in situational trajectory group membership across birth cohorts; however, this variation did not correspond with a clear pattern in terms of younger cohorts consistently experiencing either more or less discriminatory situations than their older counterparts.

This study underscores the importance of examining perceived discrimination using multiple measurement approaches and efforts to disentangle the role of exposure to historically-varying racialized social systems in contributing to perceptions of unfair treatment at older ages.