Research by the American Council on Education (Wilds, 2000) has shown that while graduation rates for African Americans have increased, they are still below that of Whites. This difference may be explained by race. It is probable that African American students are facing more experiences with racial discrimination or other factors that make their race, more salient especially on the campuses of Predominantly White Institutions. This program of research addressed the social and academic factors of African American college students and how these experiences promote or inhibit their persistence towards graduation and self-worth. Specifically, how the significance of race and trios, a cultural life view (Jones, 2003) contribute to determining whether or not the degree to which one's interpretation or reaction to racial discrimination undermines or preserves their success and satisfaction. Three studies examine the constructs of trios and racial identity as mechanisms to maintain or enhance success and satisfaction for African American college students. Overall, it was predicted that being sensitized to the possibility that one's race may contribute to unjust outcomes and experiences would cause African American college students to encounter decreases in their academic success and overall satisfaction when faced with perceptions of racial discrimination. However, trios and racial identity independently would minimize or prevent such damage from occurring. Study 1 sought to validate measurements of the Universal Context of Racism (ucr) and trios scales. Results from factor analyses indicate the ucr is assessed by a single factor (alpha = 0.82), while trios loaded on five factors; Time, Rhythm, Improvisation, Orality and Spirituality (alpha = 0.80). In Study 2, using a population of African American students from a historically Black university, findings indicate that individuals who are constantly sensitized by their racial status experience decreases in psychological well-being and perceive more racial discrimination. With Study 3, the longitudinal associations of trios and racial identity in a comparison population of African American students who attend a historically Black university (hbcu) and those who attend predominantly White institutions (pwi) established that trios and racial identity levels vary across schools with students at the hbcu showing a greater significance of race and TRIOSic lifestyles. For students attending the hbcu, racial identity buffers the negative effects of perceiving racial discrimination on self-esteem. On the other hand, students attending the pwi use both trios and racial identity to maintain their self-esteem by allowing trios to buffer the negative effects of racial awareness as it leads to increased perceptions of discrimination, then racial identity helps to maintain self-esteem after the perceptions of discriminatory acts. Race matters for students at both institutions evident by the result of racial identity predicting self-esteem longitudinally. Nevertheless, students at the PWIs must incorporate the significance of their race with the holistic view of being TRIOSic in order to truly be satisfied. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest llc. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.].