Internalized Racism and Personal Self-Esteem among Ethnoracial Minoritized Groups: A Meta-analytic Review

Internalized racism refers to the process by which individuals from marginalized ethnoracial groups internalize and accept beliefs, attitudes, and stereotypes that reinforce the superiority of the dominant ethnoracial group and the inferiority of their own. Using theory-driven conceptualizations of internalized racism, we conducted the first meta-analysis examining its relationship with personal self-esteem. The analysis included k = 117 correlation effect sizes from 54 independent cross-sectional samples, involving 15,548 ethnoracial minority participants from 51 records published between 1982–2024. Findings revealed a statistically significant small-to-moderate negative correlation between internalized racism and self-esteem (r = –.22, p < .001). Moderator analyses showed that this association was stronger when internalized racism was self-directed rather than group-directed and when internalized racism manifested as self-hatred rather than the endorsement of negative group stereotypes and narratives. Results also revealed that studies with lower risk of bias yielded stronger effects, as well as mixed evidence of publication bias. Critically, exclusive inclusion of cross-sectional studies in this meta-analysis limits causal interpretations, and it remains unclear whether low self-esteem leads individuals to internalize racism or vice versa. Additionally, since our meta-analysis included studies with only ethnoracial minorities, the extent to which these findings extend to ethnoracial dominant groups remains an open question. Collectively, these results offer a deeper understanding of self-esteem–internalized racism relationship, and emphasize the need for further research, particularly those involving non-U.S. populations and those using longitudinal designs.