Projects

• Role: Principal Investigator (PI)

• Partner & Sponsoring Organization: Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling (AARC)

• Focus Population: Racial and Ethnic Minority College Students

• Timeline: 2025–2027

This AARC-funded research project focuses on the development and initial validation of a self-report measure assessing fear of hate incidents and crimes. Hate-related incidents and crimes can occur in relation to multiple aspects of identity, including race, ethnicity, disability, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other marginalized social positions. Although existing research has examined hate crime victimization and discrimination-related stress, less attention has been given to how fear of potential hate incidents or crimes functions as a psychological experience that may affect individuals’ sense of safety, daily behavior, and mental health.

As Principal Investigator, my contribution centers on the conceptualization and empirical development of a measure that captures fear of hate incidents and crimes as a multidimensional construct. The project examines domains such as emotional distress, physiological reactions, behavioral avoidance, hypervigilance, perceived vulnerability, and fear for loved ones. In addition to developing and testing the measurement structure, the study investigates factors that may shape fear of hate incidents and crimes, including prior direct experiences, vicarious exposure, perceived discrimination, community context, and identity-related vulnerability.

Findings from this project aim to advance assessment and research in counseling by providing a psychometrically sound tool for examining fear of hate incidents and crimes across diverse populations. The study also explores how this fear is associated with psychological and mental health outcomes, such as anxiety, depression, stress, trauma-related symptoms, and perceived safety. By clarifying how identity-based threat and fear are experienced and reported, this project contributes to culturally responsive assessment, trauma-informed counseling research, and prevention-oriented approaches to supporting individuals and communities affected by hate-related harm.