Introduction to the Special Issue on the Impact of Race on Psychological Processes

Race and shape individual beliefs and perceptions, interpersonal and intergroup interaction, and institutional processes. Psychological science can aid in critically examining how race shapes psychological processes across these levels—individual, interpersonal, and institutional. The current special issue ties together a variety of methodological approaches and presents innovative research findings about the impact of race and racism on psychological processes, shedding light on how individual, interpersonal, and institutional structures affect racial equity. Together, these articles call on the research community to critically examine our own positionality and privilege when conducting psychological research, and provide recommendations for including and, importantly, centering people from traditionally marginalized social backgrounds in our work. In the introduction for this special issue, we situate the included articles in the broader context of psychological literature, and provide a reflective summary of the articles.