In these cross sectional studies, we aim to provide a more robust test of the social identity buffering hypothesis using a large student sample of ethnic minority and ethnic majority participants (Study 1) and general public sample of people from African/Caribbean backgrounds (Study 2). We aimed to test whether experiences of racial discrimination were associated with more severe paranoid symptoms and 2) whether important social identities (Study 1) and ethnic identities (Study 2) attenuate the proposed negative association between discrimination and paranoia.