The spring of my third grade year was an important time for me. I was taking my first real state standardized test, TAKS, which is now STAAR. For the first time ever I felt like an adult as I compiled all this information about myself. It was all so new to me. As I anxiously waited, I noticed that some things were already filled out in my test document. One theoretical approach to understanding the role of race, ethnic identity, and culture in moderating the effects of racism is social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 2001). .Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In social identity theory, these variables can help ameliorate and buffer the negative psychological effects of racism, but they could also potentially exacerbate its effects (Yip, Gee, & Takeuchi, 2008). In social identity theory, individuals choose from a wide range of social identity groups, and once the individual chooses a group that becomes his or her ingroup, the individual is motivated to focus on the positive aspects of that group ( Hornsey, 2008; Trepte, 2006 ). Those who affiliate and identify with their chosen group and experience racism will focus on positive aspects of their group that may strengthen and maintain their psychological well-being (Yip, Gee, & Takeuchi, 2008). For example, if individuals selected ethnicity as their group membership, ethnic identity could potentially buffer the negative effect of racism on the person's chosen membership group. Some research already suggests that ethnic identification among Filipino Americans, for example, may mitigate the impact of racism on depressive symptoms (Mossakowski, 2003). Although strong identification with one's racial or ethnic group may be protective, it is possible that high identification may also increase the negative effects of discrimination and impact an individual's well-being (Yip, Gee, & Takeuchi, 2008). Some research also suggests that individuals who affiliate or identify strongly with a group may also experience more negative effects of racism. Potentially, individuals who choose an in-group may become highly sensitive to environmental cues related to that aspect of their in-group (Hornsey, 2008; Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987). For example, experiences of racism may call attention to an individual's racial or ethnic group. Because the individual identifies with a particular ingroup and because he or she is sensitive to cues (e.g., racism) against the ingroup, the individual is likely to be more sensitive to challenges against the ingroup. Some research suggests that for some African Americans who had a strong racial identity, racial discrimination was more likely to be reported (Sellers & Shelton, 2003; Shelton & Sellers, 2000). It may be that for some African Americans, racial identity attitudes are the lens through which many interracial interactions are interpreted. That is, depending on attitudes related to racial identity, potentially ambiguous situations that may not be explicitly racist are interpreted as discriminatory ( Shelton & Venditori, 2000 ). It would also follow that potentially having a strong racial or ethnic identity could lead to worse psychological outcomes related to racism. Some research suggests this possibility that strong group identification and experiences of racism are related to increased psychological distress; these were some findings found among Latinos (McCoy &