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World v iew and sex-role orientation as th ey relate to stress am ong em ployed A frican Am erican wom en

Jackson, Anita Patricia, Ph.D.

The Ohio State University, 1989

C opyright © 1989 by Jackson , A nita P atricia . A ll rights reserved .

U M I300 N. ZeebRd.Ann Arbor, MI 48106

WORLD VIEW AND SEX-ROLE ORIENTATION

AS THEY RELATE TO STRESS

AMONG EMPLOYED AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN

DISSERTATION

P resen ted In Partial Fulfillment of the R equirem ents

for the D egree Doctor of Philosophy in the

G raduate School of The Ohio S ta te University

by

Anita P. Jackson . B.S., M.A.

The Ohio S tate University

1989

Dissertation Committee: Approved by

Dr. S usan J. S ea rs

Dr. Richard Kelsey

Dr. Lyle Schmidt

O

Advisor College of Education

Copyright by Anita P. Jackson

1989

To My Parents (Arthur and Doris Grant)

H usband (Jerry D. Jackson)

and D aughters (Kimberly and Kristina Jackson)

i i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Obtaining the Ph.D. deg ree is truly an honor. However, it wou|d not

have b een posssib le without the support, encouragem ent,

cooperation, and guidance of many people. Throughout the years there

have b een num erous people who have ass is ted m e in the course of my

personal, educational, and professional developm ent; too num erous to

list here. However, a num ber of individuals have provided support

throughout my Ph.D. program and in the developm ent of this study.

To the Man in my life, Jerry D. Jackson , I am indebted for his

friendship, understanding, and his patience. I am also appreciative of

his willingness to go it alone and take charge of num erous

responsibilities during my many hours of study.

I thank my two daughters, Kim and Kristi, for their understanding,

support, encouragem ent and the sacrifices they have m ade.

To my parents, Arthur and Doris Grant, I thank them for their

m any contributions to my person and their faith and belief in me.

O ther family m em bers who have provided much encouragem ent and

a ss is tan ce have been my sister, Laureen Tipton, and my brother and

his wife, Arthur D. and Bobbie Grant.

I thank my com m ittee m em bers, Dr. S usan S ears , Dr. Richard

Kelsey, and Dr. Lyle Schm idt for their continued support of my

personal and professional goals. Dr. S ea rs has provided timely

guidance, advice and num erous opportunities and experiences that

have enhanced me both professionally and personally. I am truly

grateful for the m any hours of intellectual d iscourse shared with Dr.

Kelsey and his w ords of wisdom and encouragem ent. I thank Dr. Lyle

Schm idt for his support and encouragem ent.

To my special friends, Irma Phillips-Carmichael and Tony

Carm ichael, and Chikako Cox for their continued emotional support,

shared knowledge, and the provision of a p lace to stay when long

hours of study m ade travel hom e unsuitable.

To my pastors, R everend G eorge W. Morse (now deceased) and

Elder J a m e s G aiters and his wife, Marcia G aiters, I appreciate the

understanding, support, and affirmation of my personage they have

given me.

I can do all things through Christ

which strengtheneth me

Phil. 4:13

iv

VITA

February 12, 1944

1 9 6 5 - 1966

1 9 6 6 -1 9 6 7

1 9 6 7 - 1968

1968 - 1983

1983 -1 9 8 4

1984 - 1985

1 9 8 5 - 1986

1986 - 1988

1988 - P resent

Born - Cleveland, Ohio

Teacher, Zanesville Public Schools

T eacher, Cleveland Public Schools

Teacher, Private School,Long Branch, New Jersey

T eacher, Zanesville Public Schools

T eacher Assistant, Ohio S ta te University, Newark

T eacher Assistant, Ohio S ta te University

Teacher, Zanesville Public Schools

School Counselor, Worthington Public School

A ssistant Professor, Kent S tate University

v

FIELDS OF STUDY

Major Field: C ounselor Education

Minor Field: Counseling Psychology

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................. iii

VITA.......................................................................................................................................v

LIST O F TABLES...............................................................................................................xi

LIST O F FIGURES........................................................................................................... xiv

ABSTRACT.........................................................................................................................xv

CHAPTER PAGE

I. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................1

Introduction........................................................................................................... 1Background Information....................................................................................4

Biological a sp ec ts of s t r e s s ........................................................................ 4Psychosocial a sp ec ts of s t r e s s ..................................................................5Belief system s and s tre ss ............................................................................10World v iew .......................................................................................................12Sex-role orien tation ...................................................................................... 15

Purpose of the S tu d y ........................................................................................ 17Importance of the S tu d y .................................................................................. 17Significance of the S tu d y ................................................................................ 19Hypotheses.......................................................................................................... 21Definition of T e rm s ............................................ !............................................. 24Limitations of the S tu d y .................................................................................. 29A ssum ptions....................................................................................................... 32Sum m ary.............................................................................................................34

II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE................................................................... 35

Introduction....................................................................................................... 35Nature of S tr e s s ............................................................................................... 36

S tre sso rs ........................................................................................................38Perception of the s t r e s s o r ........................................................................ 44Emotional reaction .......................................................................................46

S ources of S tress Among African American W om en.......................... 48Biological fa c to rs ......................................................................................... 48Psychosocial fa c to rs ...................................................................................50Psychosocial factors: Events or conditions......................................... 52

Epidemiology of S tress Among African American w om en...................66Effects of S tress on African American w om en........................................ 68A pproaches for Reducing S t r e s s ............................................................... 70Africentric and Eurocentric World V iew s.................................................72World View and S tr e s s .................................................................................. 83Sex-role O rientation....................................................................................... 89Sex-role Orientation and S t r e s s ................................................................ 93Sum m ary........................................................................................................... 99

III. METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................100

Introduction.................................................................................................... 100Research D esign .......................................................................................... 100Setting............................................................................................................. 102Population and S am p le ...............................................................................102Data Collection P rocedures....................................................................... 103Instrum entation.............................................................................................107

State-Trait Anxiety Inventory ............................................................... ,108Reliability and validity.............................................................................113African Self-C onsciousness S c a le ..................................................... 116Reliability and validity............................................................................. 119BEM Sex-role Inventory..........................................................................123

viii

Ii

Reliability and validity ............................................................................ 125Schedule of R ecent E xp erien ce ..........................;.............................. 130Reliability and validity............................................................................ 133

Procedures for Scoring In s tru m en ts ..................................................... 136Bern Sex-role Inventory.......................................................................... 136African Self-C onsciousness S ca le ......................................................140

Analysis of the D a ta .................................................................................... 142Sum m ary........................................................................................................144

IV. PRESENTATION AND ANALYSES OF THE DATA...................................... 145

Introduction....................................................................................................145Description of the S a m p le ........................................................................ 146Analyses of the D a ta ...................................................................................152

Presentation and Discussion of the StatisticalAnalysis of the D ata................................................................................. 153R esearch question o n e ...........................................................................153R esearch question tw o ...........................................................................156Related findings........................................................................................165

Sum m ary........................................................................................................175

V. DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS.................... 177

Introduction....................................................................................................177Summary of the S tu d y ................................................................................178Findings................... 179Discussion of the F ind ings........................................................................183C onclusions................................................................................................... 196Implications....................................................................................................197R ecom m endations for Future R e s e a rc h ............................................. 198

NOTES............................................................................................................................202

ix

APPENDICES

A. Letter of Invitation to Participate in the S tu d y ..................... 203B. Church A nnouncem ent..........................................................................205C. Directions for Filling Out the Q u estio n n a ire .................................. 208D. Human Subjects ' A cceptance F o rm .................................................211E. Consent Form .......................................................................................... 213F. Demographic Inform ation.....................................................................215G. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.............................................................217H. Schedule of R ecent E xperience ........................................................ 212I. Bern Sex-role Inventory ......................................................................... 223J. African Self-C onsciousness S c a le ....................................................226

BIBLIOGRAPHY...........................................................................................................231

x

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE PAGE

1. R esp o n se pattern of the s u b je c ts ............................................................. 104

2. R esp o n ses of non p artic ip an ts ......................................................................106

3. M eans, standard deviations and alphacoefficients for working a d u l ts ..................................................................... 110

4. M eans, s tandard deviations and alpha coefficients for working adults inthree age g ro u p s ...............................................................................................112

5. Sex-role categorization of the sam pleb ased on two se ts of m e d ia n s ......................................................................137

6. M eans and standard deviations ofthe African self-consciousness s c a l e .........................................................141

7. Socioeconom ic sta tu s of the s u b je c ts ....................................................... 147

8. Educational level of the s u b je c ts ................................................................ 148

9. Marital s ta tu s of the s u b je c ts ........................................................................ 149

10. Age of the su b je c ts ............................................................................................150

11. Num ber of children raised and num ber stillliving in the hom e of the s u b je c ts .................................................................151

xi

12. Hypertension treatm ent of the s u b je c ts ...................................................152

13. M eans and standard deviations of the state-trait anxiety inventory byAfricentric g ro u p ............................................................................................. 154

14. M eans and standard deviations of the state-trait anxiety inventory bysex-role g ro u p ................................................................................................. 157

15. Analysis of variance of s ta te anxietywith sex-role o rien ta tion ..............................................................................158

16. Analysis of variance of trait anxietywith sex-role o rien ta tion ................................................................................159

17. D uncan 's range test of sex-role categorieswith s ta te and trait an x ie ty ...........................................................................160

18. Analysis of variance of Africentric andsex-role categories with s ta te a n x ie ty ...................................................... 161

19. Analysis of variance of Africentric andsex-role categories with trait an x ie ty .........................................................162

20. Schedule of recen t experience a s a covariate in an analysis of covariance with s ta te anxiety by sex-role, andAfricentric c a te g o rie s ..................................................................................... 163

21. S chedule of recen t experience a s a covariate in an analysis of covariance with trait anxiety by sex-role, andAfricentric c a te g o rie s ..................................................................................... 164

xii

22. Analysis of variance for socioeconom icsta tu s and sex-role with s ta te an x ie ty ......................................................166

23. Analysis of variance for socioeconom icsta tu s and sexrole with trait a n x ie ty ..........................................................167

24. M ean sco res of s ta te anxiety bysex-role and socioeconom ic s ta tu s ...........................................................168

25. M ean sco res of trait anxiety bysex-role and socioeconom ic s t a tu s ...........................................................168

26. C hi-square test of association betw een feminine groups andsocioeconomic lev e ls ..................................................................................... 170

27. Analysis of variance of Africentricity andsocioeconom ic sta tu s with s ta te an x ie ty ................................................. 171

28. Analysis of variance of Africentricity andsocioeconom ic sta tu s with trait a n x ie ty ................................................... 172

29. C hi-square test of association betw een high and low m asculinegroups with educational le v e ls ................................................................... 174

xiii

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURES PAGE

1. H ypothesis one: Differences in anxietywith respect to Africentric world v ie w ............................................................ 22

2. Hypothesis two: Differences in anxietywith respec t to sex-role orientation ...............................................................23

3. Model of s tress ........................................................................................................38

4. S tre sso rs ................................................................................................................. 38

5. Com parison of European andAfricentric world v ie w s ........................................................................................82

6. Shift of the sex-role categories basedon different se t of m e d ia n s ............................................................................ 138

7. Diagram of the shift of sex-role categoriesbased on different se ts of m e d ia n s ............................................................ .139

8. Scatterplot of Africentric sco reswith s ta te anxiety s c o r e s ................................................................................ 155

9. Scatterplot of Africentric sco reswith trait anxiety s c o r e s ..................................................................................155

xiv

Abstract

This study w as designed to exam ine differences in world view

and sex-role orientation a s related to stress . Seventy-five em ployed

African American wom en betw een the a g e s of 20 and 65 and m em bers

of African American churches com prised the sam ple population. With

descriptive research objectives, subjects responded to four

self-report instrum ents: Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory,

Bern's Sex-Role Inventory, and Baldwin's African Self-C onsciousness

Scale. The S chedule of R ecent Experience w as u sed to control for

recen t life experiences. The P earson correlation, t-test, ANOVA and

chi-square statistical p rocedures w ere utilized.

R esults revealed that sex-role orientation is the b est descriptor

of s tre ss level. Interaction betw een socioeconom ic level and

sex-role orientation w as also dem onstrated. No significant

differences betw een the s tre ss levels of high and low Africentric

world views w as observed. T hese findings su g g est that endorsem ent

of instrum ental sex-role behaviors may enab le African American

wom en to m ore effectively cope with s tre ss and indicate the need for

further research to investigate the comparability of culturally

specific and universal instrum ents and constructs.

xv

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Concern over the s tre ss tha t individuals a re experiencing h as

touched alm ost every segm ent of the American population (Cox, 1978;

Kutash, S chelesinger & A ssociates, 1980; Smith, 1985). S tress is

recognized a s an important factor in determining health and well

being (Holmes & M asuda, 1974; Morse & Furst, 1982). In recen t years

m any writers have written about s tre ss and its m anagem ent, but few

have em phasized the special and specific a sp ec ts of s tre ss a s they

relate to wom en (Makosky, 1982, p. 36; Morse & Furst, 1982). In

particular, attention given to African American wom en h as been

inadequate (Simms & Malveaux, 1986, p. 297). Too often African

American wom en a re d iscussed under the category of "Blacks", who

a re usually men, or "women", who are usually White, with little

consideration for their unique needs. Undoubtedly, wom en have

stressful experiences in com m on with men. Still, wom en have special

s tress-re la ted concerns and co n seq u en ces and African American

wom en have stressful circum stances specific to their ethnicity.

S tudies su g g est that married w om en com pared to men experience

g rea ter s tre ss (Gove, 1972; G ove & Tudor, 1973; Pearlin, 1975;

Radloff, 1975; Thoits, 1982; Tw eed & Jackson , 1981; Warheit, Holzer,

1

2

Bell & Arey, 1976), that wom en in general evidence m ore s tre ss and

depression (Belle, 1982, p. 7), and that African American wom en

com pared to European-Am erican women experience g rea ter morbidity

and mortality from s tre ss and s tre ss related d ise a se s (H eaden &

H eaden, 1984; Mullings, 1984).

McAdoo (1986, p. 140) reported that African American fem ale

head of households evidence high levels of s tre ss a s a result of the

many, and often conflicting, roles they are expected to play. This fact

is particularly important when one considers that the proportion of

African American families headed by women is increasing (Simms,

1986, p.141). In addition, Harrison and Minor (1978) s ta ted that Black

and White em ployed wom en who work while rearing children

experience s tre ss due to the conflict betw een their roles a t work and

roles a t hom e, regardless of marital status.

Malveaux (1986, p.180) noted that African A m ericans experience

m ore s tre ss than do their White counterparts. Hypertension, a s tre ss

related d isease , occurs more frequently in the African American

population than in European-Am ericans (Miller & Miller, 1985; U.S.

D epartm ent of Health and Human Services, 1987). Leith Mullings

(1984) pointed out that hypertension kills African American women

betw een the a g e s of 25 - 44 seven teen m ore tim es frequently than

European American women. Furthermore, he s ta ted that in a 1975

Health Interview Survey, African American wom en reported the

3

low est level of em otional well being ac ro ss sex and race, with 63%

reporting m oderate to severe levels of s tress.

D iabetes, often related to s tre ss , is the sixth c a u se of death for

African Americans. This situation is com pounded by the fact that

African Am ericans with d iabetes are 1.2 tim es m ore likely to have

hypertension than W hites with d iabetes (H eaden & H eaden, 1986, p.

190).

Suicide, ano ther indicator of mental s tre ss am ong African

American fem ales is increasing. Of the 8136 Black suicides occurring

betw een 1970 and 1975, 1,944 (25%) w ere fem ale and 6,142 (75%)

w ere male (Davis, 1978; Vital Statistics of the United S ta tes , 1975).

Although the suicide ra te for Black m ales is higher than that for

Black fem ales, the fem ale suicide rates increased 34% am ong the

20-24 age group and 14% am ong the 25-29 ag e group.

Paradoxically, Black E ssen ce read ers who responded to a National

W om en and S tress Survey, conducted by Malveaux (1984), reported

less s tre ss than White women, which appeared to be puzzling

considering Black w om en's lower incom es, g rea ter likelihood of

supporting the family alone, and g rea ter likelihood of having children

and m ore of them . However, Black wom en reported more serious

health effects. Thus it ap p ea rs possible that m any Black women

experienced the sym ptom s of s tress , but did not perceive or define

their situations a s s tre s s fu l.

Considering the aforem entioned statem ents, this research w as

designed to exam ine s tre ss a s it relates to African American women.

This chap ter p resen ts introductory information about the research

study and is organized into the following sections: background

information, purpose of the study, im portance of the study,

significance of the study, research hypotheses, definitions,

limitations, assum ptions, and sum m ary.

Background Information

Many theories have sought to explain the etiology of s tre ss

am ong African Americans. T h ese theories can be categorized into two

general a reas: biological and psychosocial.

Biological a sp ec ts of s tre s s .

Many resea rch ers have focussed on genetic and/or 1 ifestyle

differences such as skin color or diet (Boyle, 1970; Chavkin, 1984;

Harburg, G leinberm ann, Roeper, Scharks & Schull,1978a; Harburg,

G leinberm ann, Ozgoven, R oeper & Schork, 1978b). The genetic

explanations have been attractive (Mullings, 1984). However, they are

being challenged due to the likelihood of social variables, i.e.

socioeconom ic level, influencing the relationship (Miller & Miller,

1985). The fact that hypertension, a s tre ss related symptom, w as

virtually unknown am ong W est African Blacks, prior to the 1940's and

continues to be rare (Akinkugbe, 1987), and am ong African rural

Blacks (S eed a t & Hackland, 1984; Wallin, 1986), but is exceedingly

w idespread am ong American Blacks, d oes not lend support to genetic

explanations.

Studies a lso indicate that levels of perceived s tre ss vary

according to a g e (Gaitz & Scott, 1972). Som e researchers have noted

an inverted U -shaped relationship betw een age and s tre ss (Gaitz &

Scott, 1972; Q u esad a , S pears, & Ram os, 1978). The U.S. D epartm ent of

Health and Human Services (1987) show ed increasing ra tes of

hypertension for w om en up to the age of 75 at which there w as a

d e c rea se in the rates.

C hanges in horm one levels of wom en have also been studied a s

they relate to s tress . Estrogen, a fem ale hormone, h as been shown to

be inversely related to s tre ss (Morse & Furst, 1982). During periods

of w om en's lives, w hen estrogen levels a re low, women have been

found to have higher levels of s tress . During postpartum and the

m enstrual period wom en experience low levels of estrogen and more

stress.

Psychosocial a sp ec ts of s tre s s .

The a re a of social conditions is perhaps the m ost commonly

exam ined to explain s tre ss am ong African American women. A

num ber of stud ies have identified oppressive social conditions that

are related to their s tress . Several investigators have found that the

evidence of s tre ss is com m on am ong lower socioeconom ic c lasses

(Belle, 1982; Keil, Tyroler, Sandifer & Boyle, 1977; Miller & Miller,

1985; T hom as & H ughes, 1986). In placing constraints on the ability

of people to pu rchase ad eq u a te housing, food, and medical care,

poverty itself increases s tre ss levels and health risks. T he U.S.

Commission on Civil Rights (1978) resolutely points out the

im portance of money to well-being; diet, appearance , entertainm ent,

and health a re all dictated by econom ic sta tus. Dem ographic studies

of m ental health in the late 1950's and early 1960's dem onstrated the

relationship betw een social c lass and mental health (English, 1983).

T hese studies m ade clear that som e groups have been m ore vulnerable

to m ental d isorders and s tre sse s than others (Hollingshead & Redlich,

1958; Hollingshead & Rogler, 1962; Reism an, Cohen & Pearl, 1964).

African American wom en are often in low paying jobs. Smith (1981)

stated that African American women encounter a num ber of

m ental-health related issues a s a result of their racial, historical,

cultural, and structural position in American society. The low income

of Black wom en subjects them to s tre sse s that often accom pany

poverty, malnutrition, psychosocial deprivation and hypertension

(Willie, Kramer & Brown, 1973a).

7

A recent report su g g ests that institutional racism b reeds

psychological s tre ss (Reveron, 1982). Kramer, R osen and Willis

(1973) have m aintained that racist practices undoubtedly are key

factors in producing mental d isorders in Blacks. Many writers have

noted tha t ethnocentric practices of the dom inant culture in the U.S.

contribute to th e s tre ss that African Am ericans experience (Akbar,

1979; Baldwin, 1984; Brown-Collins & Sussew ell, 1986; Smith, 1981;

Smith, 1985). Furthermore, racism and ethnocentricism have resulted

in m any African Am ericans experiencing feelings of inferiority,

self-hatred, inadequacy, and alienation. T h ese conditions have been

cited a s factors of psychological dysfunction in African Am ericans

(Akbar, 1979).

In a review of literature on 1 ife s tress and ethnic minorities,

Smith (1985) found evidence that racial factors such a s marginality,

social isolation, sta tus inconsistency, tokenism, visibility, and over

observation did produce s tre ss am ong racial and ethnic minority

m em bers. Marginality is the sta tus of being an incompletely

assim ilated person. O ne has partially relinguished his/her form er

culture but h as not yet achieved full accep tance in the new culture

within which h e /she is living. Social isolation implies an impairment

of o n e 's position in a community. Social isolation has b een found to

be a major factor in increased risk of d isea se (Eaton, 1983; Rabkin &

Struening, 1976). S ta tus inconsistency occurs when an individual has

two or more distinct and incompatible social s ta tu ses. For exam ple,

one 's gender s ta tu s may contam inate one 's professional status, or

middle c lass sta tu s of an African American m ay contam inate the

general view that African Am ericans a re from low socioeconom ic

backgrounds. Tokenism occurs w hen an individual is treated a s a

symbol and representative of his/her category rather than a s a real

person. Tokens a re not evaluated on the basis of their skills but on

characteristics assoc iated with their sex or ethnic identity.

Visibility refers to the fact that many ethnic groups a re noticed due

to their physical characteristics and their rarity in a particular

situation. W hat they do becom es a type of public perform ance. They

experience over observation a s a result of their visibility.

W omen also experience s tre ss a s a result of the multiple roles

that they a ssu m e (Collier, 1982). This is certainly true of African

American women who have had a long history of participation in the

labor force (Smith, 1981). African American wom en assu m e many

roles and often without the luxury of ad eq u a te salaries, stable

m arriages, educational advan tages, an d supportive work

environm ents. The African American woman h as frequently been cited

a s the b est exam ple of a liberated wom an in the U.S. society b ecau se

of her historically d iverse and multiple roles a s worker, mother,

hom em aker, and wife (Bart, 1972; Willie, 1974). N evertheless,

m anaging hom e and job responsibilities is by no m eans a simple task

and for w om en, the ta sk is usually m ore difficult. Dual-worker

m arriage normally w eighs m ore heavily on the wife than th e husband

(Collier, 1982), due to the fact that w om en a re likely not to drop

their responsibilities for child care and household m aintenance.

W om en tend to experience som e manifestation of the conflict

betw een them selves and the roles given to them by socialization a s

w om en. This conflict m ay create such a high d eg ree of s tre ss that

the sym ptom s may mimic those of severe illness (Collier, 1982).

Sex discrimination on the job may also contribute to the

s tre s se s that w om en encounter and the results of perceived injustice

a re an g er and frustration (Collier, 1982). Also, the fact that

em ploym ent for African American wom en is usually a neccessity ,

coupled with discriminatory work practices and discriminatory

attitudes and myths abou t their sexuality, often m ake them

vulnerable to sexual h arassm en t (B ackhouse, e ta l . , 1981). In

re sp o n se to the National W omen and S tress Survey, by Malveaux

(1984), Black responden ts reported experiencing m ore or le ss sexual

h a rassm en t depending upon the sex ratio and Black-White ratio of

em ployees in the work setting. Black wom en experience m ore sexual

h a rassm en t w hen the workplace is com prised of 15% to 50% women

and w hen com prised of 50% or more White em ployees.

For African American women, age, horm ones, socioeconom ic

level, ethnicity, multiple roles, and sex dicrimination a re all factors

which a re assoc iated with the s tre sse s tha t they experience.

Economic oppression, racism, multiple roles, and sexism , frequently

impact on African American w om en in negative w ays. Thus, a num ber

of the s tre s se s which African American wom en encounter ap p ea r to

stem from the dynam ics in the society in which they live (Smith,

1981).

Belief ■systems and s tre ss

In spite of biological and/or psychosocial a sp ec ts of s tress ,

individuals vary widely in how "stressful" they find the sam e

objective situation (Lazarus, 1984; Smith, 1980). This variability is

explained a s the differences in cognitive appraisals individuals

m ake about their situations. In s tre ss literature, the term cognitive

appraisal is given to the evaluative p ro cesses that define the

relationship individuals are experiencing (Cox, 1978; Lazarus, 1984,

1986; Smith, 1980). Cognitions a re seen a s playing a vital role in

determining how an individual views a potential stressor. Appraisal

p ro cesses c rea te the psychological reality to which people respond,

and the nature and intensity of emotional resp o n ses are a function of

w hat people tell them selves about the situation and about their

ability to cope with it. If specific cognitions or thoughts about self

and the situation and the co n seq u en ces for acting influence how the

situation is viewed and w hat behavior is selected, intervention a t the

appraisal s tag e of s tress is important. Interventions may be directed

at other com ponents of s tre ss , i.e. the physiological response and/or

external situation. However, interventions directed a t th ese other

com ponents ultimately a re m ediated by or exert their effects on the

appraisal p ro cesses . S tudies (Cerderloff, Jonsson , & Sorenson, 1967;

Cohen, G lass & Phillips, 1979; C ohen & Sherrod, 1978; G ochm an, 1979;

G raeven, 1975; Mech, 1953; Stokols & Resnick, 1975; Worchel, 1978)

of the role cognitive appraisals play in influencing perceived s tress , -

i.e. personal control, attribution, attitudes, expectancies, privacy, -

support theories that su g g es t the psychological properties of a

situation a re important determ inants of w hether one experiences

s tre ss (Cohen, 1980). Further, C ohen (1980) has s ta ted that cognitive

appraisals are better determ inants of s tress re sp o n ses than the

s tresso r. If specific cognitions or beliefs im pact upon perceived

levels of s tre ss , then restructuring the influencing cognitions can

bring abou t ch ange in o n e 's level of perceived stress . The author

p roposes that differences in belief system s, specifically world view

and sex-role orientation, will impact upon the perceived levels of

s tre ss experienced by African American women.

12

World View:

Although biological and psychosocial factors may be related to

s tress , re sea rch ers have not often sought to identify specific cultural

factors within the individual that m ay be related to s tre ss and/or aid

in the reduction of s tress . O ne such factor that has recently been

explored a s a determ inant of one 's psychological functioning (Akbar,

1981; Baldwin, 1984; Baldwin & Bell, 1985; Sue, 1983) is the world

view of a person. As used here, a world view is a highly structured,

complex interacting se t of values, expectations, and im ages of

oneself and others, which guide and in turn a re guided by a person 's

perceptions and behavior and which are closely related to his/her

emotional s ta tes and feelings of well-being (Frank, 1977, p. 27). O ne 's

world view is essentially the personal "lens" or belief system through

which experience is viewed and it partly determ ines the cou rse of

reaction to the external environm ent, (Fine, Schw ebel & Myers, 1985).

World view is further defined a s the ontological, axiological, and

epistem ological beliefs or values that a group of people uphold which

influences how they perceive them selves in relationship to the

world. World view constitu tes one 's psychological orientation in life

and can determ ine how an individual thinks, behaves, m akes decision,

and defines even ts (English, 1984).

13

Being a culturally based variable, world view varies from one

group of people to another, thus w ays of behaving and defining events

vary. W hen definitions of behavior and/or even ts a re viewed a s fact

and not recognized a s culturally influenced, individuals who are

different, a re seen a s pathological. Historically, the behavior of

African Am ericans have been described and defined in negative ways.

Several authors (Jackson, 1973; Nobles, 1976; S tap les, 1976)

have sugg ested that rem nants of an African world view have sh ap ed

the world view of African Americans and aided African Am ericans in

adapting to life in the United S ta tes. It is a sse rted by several

authorities (Baldwin & Bell, 1985; Gibson, 1984) that Africentric

world view plays a significant role in generally all a sp e c ts of African

American psychological functioning and behavior. Jackson (1973),

Nobles (1976), and S tap les (1976) have p roposed that advocating an

Africentric world view m ay foster m ore positive reactions to an

oppressive and racist society. An Africentric world view

acknow ledges the strengths of African A m ericans and affirms African

and African American culture. In an oppressive society, an

Africentric world view h as the potential to counter the negative

im ages and oppression that African American wom en experience.

R esp o n ses to a society that negate the value and self worth of the

individual a re self denial, self-hatred, self-alienation, and/or self

destructive behaviors (Akbar, 1979). T hese re sp o n ses a re said to be a

14

result of attem pting to feel a part of society, coupled with being

m ade to feel apart from it (Thom as, 1970). Thom as (1970) noted the

conflictive nature of this situation. Due to this conflictive condition,

one is unable to acquire balance or harm ony with nature, which is

valued in Africentric world view. Furthermore, in Africentric world

view, o n e 's identity s tem s from the group. If the group or society

n eg a te s and/or devalues the individual, this puts the individual in a

s ta te of disharm ony with self. The few studies (Azibo, 1983a, 1983b;

Baldwin & Bell, 1984; Curry, 1981, 1984; Gibson, 1984) in this a re a

tha t have been reported have sugg ested a strong correlation betw een

high levels of African self-consciousness (a conscious level

expression of an Africentric orientation or world view a s defined by

Baldwin, 1981) and effective psychological functioning. Thus the

relationship betw een Africentric world view and o ther important

behaviors and circum stances of African Am ericans is a viable a re a of

research in a sse ss in g its role in explaining behavioral variation.

Also, its com m unal phenom enology is compatible to the m ain tenance

of cooperative, supportive environm ents and harm ony with nature.

Growing research is showing the im portance of supportive

environm ents and/or social supports a s m ediators of s tre ss (S arason ,

1980).

15

Sex-role orientation:

Sex-role orientation is ano ther se t of beliefs that African

American women hold that may im pact upon perceived s tre ss and how

they cope with s tress . Sex-role orientation rep resen ts the attitudes

and beliefs individuals have adopted concerning roles, behaviors, and

activities of women and m en (Cook, 1985). T hese attitudes and

beliefs a re a result of the sex-typing p rocess w hereby a person

acquires and values particular characteristics considered appropriate

for her/his sex in that culture (Mischel, 1970). By the time a person

reach es adulthood, the sex-role belief system is thoroughly

internalized (Collier, 1982). If sex-stereotyping h as been a factor in

the acquisition of sex-role identification, individuals will often

function according to th o se stereo types even if they a re harmful to

their in terests and mental health b e ca u se they have internalized

sex-role beliefs (Collier, 1982).

Several researchers (Bern, 1977; Kaplan, 1979; M arecek, 1979)

have hypothesized that an androgynous sex-role orientation is m ore

assoc iated with well being than a m asculine or feminine orientation.

The concept of androgyny, a s the p resen ce of both m asculine and

feminine traits in an individual, h as gained increased accep tan ce

(Bern, 1974; Heilbrun, 1976; S p en ce & Helmreich, 1978). Although

data is inconclusive, recen t research indicates tha t androgynous

persons tend to receive the m ost favorable sco res or classifications

on various indices of psychological developm ent (Amstey &

W hitbourne, 1981; Orlofsky, 1977; Tzuriel, 1984). Androgynous

p erso n s have b een shown to have higher self e s teem (Bern, 1977;

S pence, Helmreich & Stapp, 1975;) and for wom en, g rea ter resistance

to "learned help lessness" (Welch, 1978). The primary im portance of

androgyny lies in its implications for behavior. B ecause androgynous

p ersons endorse both m asculine and feminine characteristics and

behaviors, they a re believed to be more flexible in their re sp o n ses to

varying situations. This flexibility should lead to m ore adaptive

behavior (Heilbrun & Pitman, 1979) and/or social adjustm ent

(Goodm an & Kantor, 1983). Flexible behavior is specu lated to be

s tress reducing in that it permits individuals to call upon varying

behaviors to deal with their experiences. Following prescriptions for

behaviors, thoughts, and feelings appropriate to one 's sex a s expected

by society is believed to limit flexibility of re sp o n ses. S tudies on

the relationship betw een androgyny and flexibility, although

inconsistent, generally support the fact that sex-typing ap p ea rs to

restrict one’s functioning (Bern, M atyna & W atson, 1976, p. 1022).

This limitation is specu la ted to be s tre ss producing when the

realities of contem porary w om ens' lives call for behaviors th a t are

more flexible. Thus andrognyny see m s to have the potential to

counter the attitudes and behaviors in wom en that cause s tre ss .

R uroose of the Study

17

If cognitive appraisal is an important a sp ec t of s tress , then how

will specific cognitions a s related to one 's ethnicity or cultural

heritage an d sex im pact upon perceived s tre ss? Will one 's cultural

world view influence his/her perception of potential s tre sso rs? Will

o n e 's sex-role orientation influence his/her perception of potential

s tre sso rs? The purpose of this study w as to exam ine the

relationships am ong world view, sex-role orientation, and perceived

levels of s tre ss am ong em ployed African American women.

Socioeconom ic status, marital s tatus, and age a re also

associated with s tre ss and w ere exam ined in evaluating the

relationship of world view, sex-role orientation and perceived stress.

Furtherm ore, 1 ife ch an g e has been shown to be related to the onset of

s tress-re la ted illnesses (Dohrenwend & Dohrenwend, 1981b). Thus a

m easure of life ch ange even ts w as utilized to serve a s a control so

that a more accura te m easure of s tre ss and the independent variables

could be obtained.

Im portance of the Study

The n eed to reduce or alieviate s tre ss for individuals is vital.

Although s tre ss can be a positive force, too much s tre ss over too long

a period of tim e can be a major factor in illness (Adams, 1980). A

growing num ber of studies on life events have reported m odest, but

significantly positive relationships betw een life event levels and

physical and m ental health symptomatology (Grant, G orst & Yagor,

1976; Myers, Lindenthal, P epper & O strander, 1972). S tre ss has been

linked to high ra tes of hypertension and is now known to be a direct

or indirect major contributor to coronary heart d isease , cancer, lung

ailm ents, accidental injuries, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide, six

of the leading c a u se s of death (Smith, 1985) and to ulcers, alcoholism

(Adams, 1980), and infectious d isea se s (G reenberg & Valletutti,

1980). A survey of working wom en noted, for exam ple, tha t wom en

who reported them selves under s tre ss experienced m ore disabling

health sym ptom s (muscle aches, eyestrain, depression) and actual

health related effects (high blood pressure, gastritis) than did wom en

who experienced less s tre ss (Malveaux, 1984). Furthermore, the

epidemiology of s tre ss related d isea ses am ong African American

wom en is higher than am ong European-American women (H eaden &

H eaden, 1984; Mullings, 1984). S tress is said to be responsible for

th ese d ise a se s b ecau se it lowers resistance and en h an ces a

predisposition to certain illnesses (Adams, 1980; Smith, 1985). Many

physicians have sta ted that a t least 70 percent of the ailm ents they

treat a re s tress related (Adams, 1980). Increasingly, the m essag e is

clear th a t s tre ss can be dangerous to one 's physical and m ental health

and th a t it may even lead to death.

W hether s tre ss is evidenced am ong African A m ericans or the

general population, w e all pay for it. Economic, personal, and cultural

lo sses a re profound. Estim ates a re that over 100 billion dollars a

year a re lost on absen teeism , medical ex p enses, and d ecreased

productivity in the U.S. due to s tre ss (Sokoloff, 1979). It can no

longer be considered just a personal problem. In 1976, s tre ss

su rp a ssed the com m on cold a s the m ost prevalent health problem in

the United S ta te s (Rummel & Rader, 1978). As such, it is the num ber

one c a u se of heart d isease . It im pacts on the price paid in term s of

personal health and well-being, health care costs: the price paid for

consum er goods, and production efficiency on the job. It im pacts on

personal well-being and social skill functioning.

.Significance o lthe-Study,

This study sought to provide m ore information and insight about

African American wom en by examining specific cognitions, world

view and sex-role orientation, to s e e how they relate to perceived

levels of s tress . S u e (1981) says that culture plays an important role

in the healing process. The majority of research on life even ts and

physical and mental sym ptom atology of s tre ss has been conducted on

White Am ericans. S tudies of African Am ericans have been noticeably

ab sen t from the 1 iterature. There is a dearth of system s currently

acknowledging the im portance of culture or using treatm ent m ethods

that a re culturally based . By determ ining if there is a relationship

betw een Africentric world view and perceived s tre ss , this study can

be useful in providing an empirical te st of the assum ptions that

culture plays a role in the healing p rocess and insight a s to how that

might be occuring.

Furtherm ore, studies of African A m ericans have frequently been

com parison studies, w here African Am ericans a re com pared m ost

often with European-A m ericans and som etim es o ther ethnic groups.

Inaccurate conclusions resulting from com parison studies can be

m ade if there is a lack of knowledge about the variables being

exam ined a s they relate specifically to the cultures being com pared.

The constructs being m easured or the criteria for the manifestation

of the behavior may not be applicable across cultural or ethnic groups

(Lonner, 1976). To increase sensitivity and understanding will

require researchers to study the sociopolitical and cultural factors

that a re specific to African American w om en. This study se e k s to

better understand African American wom en by examining culturally

specific variables that impact upon them . This study can, therefore,

contribute much to conceptualizing the psychological functioning of

African American women, by examining the relationship am ong world

view, sex-role orientation and stress .

Finally, if cognitions play a vital role in determ ining how an

individual views a potential s tresso r, examining culturally specific

cognitions of African American w om en and how th ose cognitions may

relate to s tre ss can provide valuable information for assisting them

in dealing m ore effectively with excessive s tress .

H ypotheses

This research focussed on the possible relationship betw een

Africentricity and perceived levels of s tress and the relationship

betw een sex-role orientation and perceived levels of s tress . This

study sought to te st the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1. African American wom en reporting high Africentric

world view will ev idence less anxiety a s m easured

by the A-State and A-Trait S ca les of the State-Trait

Anxiety Inventory than those who report a low

Africentric world view.

High

A n x i e t y

Low

Low HighA f r i c e n t r i c Wor l d V i e w

Figure 1

Hypothesis One:Differences in Anxiety Levels with R espect to

Africentric World View

Hypothesis 2: African American wom en reporting an androgynous

sex-role orientation, will reportanxiety a s m easured

by the A-State and A-Trait S cales of the State-Trait

Anxiety Inventory than wom en who do not report an

androgynous sex-role orientation.

High

A n x i e t y

Lo w

M a s c u l i n e A n d r o g y n o u sF e m i n i n eU n d i f f e r e n t i a t e d

Figure 2

Hypothesis Two:Differences in Anxiety with R espect to

Sex-role Orientation

The null hypo theses for th e se concerns were a s follows:

Hypothesis 1: No significant differences will be found on the

A -State and A-Trait anxiety sca le s betw een African

American wom en scoring high and those scoring low

on the Africentric scale.

Hypothesis 2: No significant differences will be found on the

A-State and A-Trait anxiety sca le s for African

American wom en reporting different sex-role

orientations.

Definition of Term s

The following term s and their definitions w ere used in this

study.

1. African Am erican. An African American is a U.S. citizen who is

primarily of or identifies him/herself a s being of African descen t.

Throughout this study, the term African American is used to identify

the Black population, previously called Negro, "colored", and Black.

Recently, som e Black psychologists and educators (National Alliance

of Black School Educators, Inc., 1986) have chosen to write this term

unhyphenated to rep resen t the separation that African A m ericans

experienced w hen torn from the African continent and the

enlightenm ent over the centuries about the 'd o u b le-co n sc io u sn ess '/

described by W. E. B. Dubois. African Am ericans a re the d isplaced

brothers and siste rs of African people. The fact that the nam e is

unhyphenated em phasizes this separation, the d isplacem ent, and the

im portance of recapturing the past.

2. Africentric world view. A world view or belief system which

incorporates the values and philosophical assum ptions of people of

African ancestry (Nobles, 1980).

3. Anxiety. "U npleasurable affect consisting of

psychophysiological ch an g es in response to an intrapsychic conflict"

(F reedm an, Kaplan, & Sadock, 1972, p. 753). A diffused, unpleasant,

often vague feeling of apprehension, accom panied by one or m ore

recurring bodily sensations.

4. Cognitive appraisal. The mental evaluations tha t individuals

m ake regarding their situations or experiences. In relationship to

s tress , cognitive appraisal refers to a person 's judgm ents about the

significance of his/her continuous transactions with the environm ent

for personal well-being (Folkman & Lazarus, 1986).

5. D istress. A negative s tre ss response. Discomfort stem m ing

from the condition that an appraisal of the situation is negative

and/or an individual's original repetoire does not work in the new

situation.

Discomfort, d isag reeab le sensations, unp leasan t m oods such a s

worry, anxiety, unhappiness, or dem oralization. It includes

psychological d is tress such a s nervousness, being in low spirits,

feeling hopeless, and psychophysiological m alaise such a s dizziness,

upset stom achs, and vague ach es and pains. It d o es not refer to

d isordered cognitive or perceptual p ro cesses , to withdrawn or

inappropriate behavior, or to antisocial attitudes or behavior.

6. Eurocentric world view. That world view or belief system

which incorporates the values and philosophical assum ptions of

people of European ancestry (Nobles, 1980).

7. E u stress . A positive s tre ss response . A positive appraisal of

the situation and/or the utilization of coping skills that produce a

positive or desirable effect in dealing with the s tresso r.

8. Life ch an g e . A stressful life ev en t which requires a

significant change in the ongoing life pattern of the individual

(Dohrenwend & Dohrenwend, in the ongoing life pattern of the

individual (Dohrenwend & Dohrenwend, 1981). The em phasis is on

change from the existing s teady s ta te and not on psychological

m eaning, emotional, or social desirability. For the purposes of this

study, life change w as m easured by the Holm es & R ahe Schedule of

R ecent Experience.

9. M easured anxiety. Raw sco res on the A-Trait scale of the

State-Trait Anxiety Inventory will serve a s indicators of anxiety

level in this study. They will be u sed a s points of com parison

betw een the high and low Africentric groups and am ong the

masculinity, androgynous, femininity, and undifferentiated groups.

10. Role stra in . Multiple dem ands placed on the wom an by her job

or profession and th ose that arise from her obligations a s a mother,

wife, and a person in her own right (Collier, 1982).

11. Sex-role orientation. O ne 's attitudes and beliefs about the

roles and goals for men and women, - m asculine, androgynous,

feminine, and undifferentiated - a s defined by the Bern Sex-Role

Inventory. Masculinity are those behaviors tha t are defined a s

aggressive, independent, logical, active, competitive. Femininity are

those behaviors that a re defined a s passive, dependen t, emotional,

compliant, nurturant, docile, timid. Androgyny are th o se behaviors

which may be utilized regard less of w hether they are m ore feminine

or m asculine, but d ependen t upon the situation involved. Androgynous

people are those who score high on both the feminine and m asculine

sca le and identify highy with characteristics typical of both m ales

and fem ales. Undifferentiated are th o se who have low m asculine and

feminine sco res and do not identify strongly with either the feminine

or m asculine roles.

28

12. S tre s s . Lazarus & Folkman (1984) s ta te that it is an

individual perceptual phenom enon, having its origin in psychological

p ro cesses . The dem and can be externally and internally generated .

Psychological and physiological n eed s rep resen t internally generated

dem ands, w hereas external dem an d s a re th ose rooted in a person 's

environm ent. It is often defined a s the im balance betw een perceived

dem and and the person 's perception of his/her capability to m eet that

dem and. Thus s tre ss can be viewed a s moving away from one 's

internal strengths. From a cultural perspective, the individual is

viewed a s moving in a direction he/she d o es not wish to go or moving

aw ay from his/her own natural cultural disposition. T hese

definitions allow for the consideration of m any cultural specific and

individually unique variables in examining how and when

s tre ss occurs and w ays to reduce stress .

13. Stressful life even ts . O ccurences in o n e 's life which are

approxim ate to rather than rem ote from the o n se t of a d isorder or

illness (D ohrenwend & Dohrenwend, 1981).

14. S tresso r. A dem and or situation which produces s tre ss (Cox,

1978).

15. World view. T he ontological, axiological, epistem ological

beliefs or va lues that a group of people uphold (Nobles, 1980), and

som etim es referred to a s the perception one h as of him/herself in

relationship to the world. For the pu rposes of this study, world view

is rep resen ted by the sco re achieved on the African

Self-C onsciousness Scale.

Limitations of the Study

The following limitations w ere identified for this study:

Instrumentation w as b a se d on self-reports only; no physiological

m easu res of s tre ss w ere u sed to detect changes in pulse rate,

body tem perature, electrical brain w aves through the use of

highly sophisticated instrum ents designed for this purpose.

According to P iers (1984), self-report m easu res a re subject to

conscious and unconscious distortions. The researcher canno t be

sure th a t the respondent is truthful or that he/she h as a level of

aw aren ess to be able to express what he /she feels. Subjects may not

have responded truthfully du e to the emotionally

charged nature of topics related to ethnic identity, racism, and

oppression, coupled with concern about th e intended pu rposes of

30

the research . In a society viewed a s oppressive, individuals m ay be

cautious in w hat they disclose to others. Ary, Jaco b s & Razavieh,

(1972) also s ta ted that the d isadvantage of self report is

misinterpretation of the questions by the respondent. It is extrem ely

difficult to form a se t of questions that a re crystal clear to every

reader (Ary e t al. 1972).

2. The study w as limited to a small sam ple. The sam ple consisted

of 75 subjects, which rep resen ted only 50% of th ose randomly

selected . A small sam ple size limits the generalizability of the

study (Gay, 1981) and the statistical procedures that can be used.

3. African Am ericans m ay be m ore flexible regarding their

sex-roles and thus the BEM sex-role inventory may not adequately

reflect the sex-roles of African Americans. There is little

empirical evidence to support the view that African American

women b a se their feminine identity on the stereotypic White

ideal (Zeff, 1982). Cook (1985) s ta ted that racial differences

have not been extensively explored with regards to the

generalizability of sex-role m easu res (Cook, 1985). Heilbrun

(1981) reported an unpublished study by W ellar which

com pared the Personal Attributes Q uestionnaire (PAQ) sco res of

sam ples of Black C arribean and Black American studen ts with

S pen ce and Helmreich's (1978) PAQ sco res for White studen ts.

Although there w ere negligible differences on the feminine and

m asculine sca les, Black American w om en scored in a less

traditional m anner than other women. African A m ericans m ay be

less likely than European-A m ericans to differentiate betw een the

sex e s on the basis of stereotypic conceptions of masculinity and

femininity (Zeff, 1982). This may be du e to the dual nature of the

African American w om an's traditional role a s wife an d m other a s

well a s worker (O'Leary, 1977) and work not being viewed a s

incompatible with fem ale goals (Fichter, 1967; Gurin & Katz, 1966;

Ladner, 1972).

4. The construct of s tre ss a s m easured by the State-Trait Anxiety

Inventory m ay not be applicable to African American w om en.

C onstructs, such a s anxiety, or its behavioral manifestation

cannot alw ays be assu m ed to be valid and meaningful when

applied to a different cultural group (Lonner, 1976). Most

research on s tress in the United S ta tes h as been on White

Americans.

5. Variation may exist in the perception of 1 ife ch an g e even ts on the

Schedule of R ecent Experience. Although research h a s found

cross-cultural concordance am ong ratings of life ch an g e even ts

(Holmes & Rahe, 1967) som e researchers (Fairbank & Hough, 1981;

Wyatt, 1977) have pointed out a num ber of m ethodological

problem s in research attempting to de tec t cultural differences in

the perception of 1 ife events. Som e reachers (Komaroff, M asuda &

Holmes, 1968; Leong, Tseng, & Wu, 1985) have found cultural

differences am ong varying cultural groups.

6. The subjects in this study w ere church m em bers. Subjects may

have a particular orientation toward life that m ay be factor in the

results of the study.

7. Currently, there ex ists a paucity of information discussing the

applicability of the Bern Sex-role Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety

Inventory, and Schedule of R ecent Experience for African Americans.

C are m ust be taken in interpreting the results.

A ssum ptions

The following assum ptions w ere m ade in conducting this study:

1. Individuals are capab le of accurately completing self-report

sca le s regarding the d eg ree of s tre ss or anxiety tha t they

experience. The experience of s tre ss is a highly personal

m atter and cannot always be viewed by others. Thus self-report h as

becom e one m ethod of determining the s tre ss an individual

feels. Despite their brevity and simplicity, such sca les have

considerable utility in the a sse ssm e n t of current levels of anxiety

and of ch an g es in anxiety under given experim ental treatm ent

(McReynolds, 1968).

2. African American wom en em brace varying d eg rees of

Africentricity depending on the extent to which they have been

acculturated into European-Am erican society. T hese d eg rees can be

m easured by sca le s which a s s e s s the Africentric values a person

holds. The values one holds a re reflected in behavior and attitudes

which can be m easured . Scales, such a s the African Self

C onsciousness Scale, m easure the conscious level expression of

Africentricity - a com m unal phenom enology (Baldwin, 1985).

3. S tress is a phenom enon experienced by all hum ans, thus it is

considered to be a universal concept in this study.

4. The experience of s tre ss h as profound psychological and physical

co n seq u en ces which may be perceived a s positive or negative.

34

5. World view can b e a s s e se d by examining cultural values and

ethnic identity (Baldwin, 1981; Nobles, 1976; Sue, 1981;

Williams, 1972).

Summ ary

The preceding sections have introduced the problem, background

information, the purpose, the importance, and the significance of this

investigation. H ypotheses w ere m ade and a list of term s and their

definitions a s used in the study w ere p resen ted . Finally, limitations

w ere identified and assum ptions m ade in the conduct of this study

w ere presen ted .

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Introduction

The concept of s tre ss has been around for centuries, but has only

in the p a s t two d e ca d e s gained w idespread public attention, been

conceptualized systematically, and becom e a sub ject of research .

S tress is viewed a s an inevitable asp ec t of life and what m akes the

difference in hum an functioning is how people cope with it.

Individuals' coping m echanism s often vary according to their beliefs

about their situations and abilities to perform (Cox, 1978; Lazarus,

1986; Smith, 1980). World view and sex-role orientation a re two

belief system s which individuals have which may influence their

perceptions of stresso rs . S tress, world view, and sex-role

orientation w ere reviewed extensively in this chapter.

C hapter two is divided into the following sections: nature of

s tress , so u rces of s tress, incidence of s tress , effects of s tress ,

app ro ach es for reducing stress , Africentric and Eurocentric world

views, world view and stress , sex-role orientation, sex-role

orientation and stress , and sum m ary. A review of th e se a re a s

provides an analysis of information n ecessary for this study.

35

Nature of S tress

S tress h a s often been defined a s either a stimulus, a response , or

a s an interaction of stimulus, response, and person variables.

Stimulus m odels view s tre ss a s a psychosocial dem and leading to

personal strain (Anderson, 1978; Hall & Mansfield, 1971; Holm es &

R ahe, 1967; Shinn, Rosarios, Morch, & Chestnut, 1984). R esponse

m odels s e e it a s a physiological response to d em ands m ade upon the

organism (Cannon, 1932; Selye, 1956; Wolff, 1968). However,

individual differences m ake th e se unidimensional definitions limiting

in the understanding of psychological s tress. S ubsequen t m odels of

s tre ss have tended to em phasize m ore strongly the role of appraisal

in determ ining arousal and have been referred to a s transactional

models.

This study has been developed using the theoretical construct in

Figure 3. S tre ss is viewed a s a rubric or system of in terdependent

variables. It involves a relationship betw een a particular person with

certain characteristics and an environm ent with certain

characteristics. T hese variables are reflected in the person 's

appraisal of a relationship with the environm ent a s relevant to

well-being an d taxing or exceeding his/her resources. S tress can

best be thought of a s a process, rather than a s a static event.

Spielberger (1986) described this p ro cess a s a tem poral seq u en ce of

even ts primarily consisting of the following:

1. a s tresso r - any stimulus situation characterized by physical

or psychological danger or threat: a su b se t of environm ental

conditions tha t a re likely to be appra ised a s stressful.

2. a perception of the s tresso r

3. an em otional reaction

C onsiderable literature and empirical stud ies can be found pertaining

to each of th e se a reas . A discussion of th e se a re a s a re included in

this chapter.

S tress is transactional in nature in that the person affects and to

som e extent ch o o ses the environm ent and w hat to attend to and

similarly, the environm ent affects the person. Each variable and

p rocess can affect the other, depending on w here in the flow of

behavior one begins. The person and the environm ent a re in a mutually

reciprocal bidirectional relationship. W hat is a co n seq u en ce at one

time in the p rocess can becom e an an teced en t a t another. This

bidirectional relationship betw een person and the environm ent is

continually changing (Folkman & Lazarus, 1986).

S tresso rsO ne com ponent of the s tre ss p ro cess is the stresso r. A wide

range of phenom ena can be considered a s s tre sso rs a s shown in Fig. 4.

O ne form of s tresso r that has been the focus of extensive research

38

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SefflanOS O p p o r t u n j t i c s

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— — — R « a p p r a i M l _ — —I I

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f l t m o a a t. c n m g o w p n c ea

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E n v i ro n m e n ta lV a ria b le *

P x E ' P e r s o n - e n v l r o n a e n t I n t e r a c t i o n

R g u re 3

Model of S tre ss

Environmental Pe r so na l Handicaps Na tu ra l D i s a s t e r Un rea l i z edPhys i ca l Ex pe c t a t i on sSoci al

Soc ia l S t a t u s Economic S i t u a t i o n Techno log i ca l L i f e ChangesC a t a s t ro p h e s

Figure 4

S tre sso rs

within the last two d ecad es is s tress resulting from change. Holmes

& M asuda (1974) hypothesized that any change which requires

readjustm ent in o n e 's life c a u se s s tress . People experience elevated

risks for many physical and em otional problem s when they experience

num erous life ch an g es in a short period of time (Dohrenwend, 1973).

R esearch on stressful life even ts stem s from the life chart of

Meyer (C hristensen, 1981). In the 1930's, Adolf Meyer advocated the

u se of a life chart in medical diagnosis. Beginning in 1949, the life

chart w as used to docum ent biologic, psychologic, and sociologic

p ro cesses in their relation to health and d isease . Meyer contended

that normal and n ecessa ry life events a re potential contributors to

pathology (C hristensen ,1981). The psychological significance of the

events varied widely with th e patients observed, however, one them e

common to all the life even ts w as that they evoked or w ere

associated with so m e change and adaptive behavior on the part of the

involved individual.

In 1954 a program of stud ies in life ch an g es and illness patterns

w as initiated a t the Human Ecology Study Project at Cornell

University Medical College. The Cornell studies found tha t illnesses

appeared to be assoc ia ted with definite periods of life change. O ne of

the first published lists of life-change events w as

from the work of R ahe, Meyer, Smith, Kjaer and Holmes (1964) and

Holmes and R ahe (1967), w here 42 even ts w ere compiled into the

Schedule of R ecent Experience (SRE) questionnaire. T hese even ts

w ere selec ted for their observed occurrence prior to the onset of

illness or clinical sym ptom s. They a re representative of health,

work, family, personal, social and commmunity, and financial a re a s of

life adjustm ent. O ther life-change even ts questionnaires have been

developed, (Antonovsky & Kats, 1967; Brown & Birley, 1968;

Horowitz, Schaefer, Hiroto, Wilner & Lebin, 1977; Myers, Lindenthal, &

Pepper, 1971; Paykel, Prusoff, & Uhlenhuth, 1971) but there is a

surprising unanimity of opinion am ong researchers a s to which

life-change even ts should be included (Rahe, 1981).

Although a consisten t relationship has been found betw een

stressful life even ts and illness patterns, a typical correlation

betw een life change and illness reported in the literature is .30,

which leaves 91 percen t of the variance in illness unexplained

(C hristensen, 1981). In the last d ecad e or so, considerable attention

h as focused on individual and situational variables that may m ediate

the relationship betw een life change and illness, and thus increase

the am ount of explained variance in illness.

In regards to individual variables, perception of personal control

over life even ts ap p ea rs to be a powerful variable influencing the

s tressfu lness of even ts (Christensen, 1981). A reas studied in this

category have been Type A personalities, he lp lessness, and external

locus of control. Each of th e se personal dispositions h a s been found

to be asso c ia ted with stress-induced illness (Friedman & R osenm an,

1974; G lass, 1977; Lefcourt, 1976; Rotter, 1966; Schm ale, 1972).

Locus of control is particularly relevant to African Americans, who

a re said to have an external locus of control (Sue, 1981), although

externality am ong wom en and som e nonwhite populations may be

motivationally healthy (Gurin, Gurin, Lao & Beattie, 1969). W hether

th e se d iverse personal dispositions a re all related in individuals h as

not been thoroughly investigated. It is possible that resea rch ers

coming from varied theoretical and empirical backgrounds may be

converging on a central conception of factors in the individual that

a re related to s tre ss induced illness. The person who exhibits Type A

behavior m ay be responding with he lp lessness and, w hen exam ined

from a social learning perspective, be found to have an external locus

of control. To date, th e se constructs concerning m odes of

s tress-re la ted resp o n ses have been developed largely by sep a ra te

disciplines and subdisciplines so that their interrelationships have

not been exam ined. A finding that diverse conceptions of personal

dispositions related to life s tre ss represen t different views of a

single central construct could possibly simplify the task of

understanding how personality functions in the life-stress p rocess.

Situational variables have included a reas of social support and

dem ographic factors. Social support has received much attention a s a

m oderator of s tre ss (C hristensen, 1981). Cobb (1976) h a s provided a

com prehensive, in-depth review of studies indicating that social

supports protect individuals in crisis from a variety of pathological

outcom es. He defines social support a s "information leading the

subject to believe that he is cared for and loved, e s teem ed and valued,

and a m em ber of a network of mutual obligations". Dem ographic

factors such a s ag e , sex, race, socioeconom ic status, and education

have been shown to account for som e variance in illness behavior

(R ahe & Arthur, 1978; R ahe, G underson, & Arthur, 1970). A general

finding is that individuals from the lower social c lass ap p ea r to have

m ore life ch an g es than m iddle-class individuals, with the former

reporting proportionally m ore social undesirable even ts (Dohrenwend,

1973).

While the life events s tre ss research h a s produced many

provocative findings, m any issues still surround this a re a of research .

Much of the d eb a te regarding stressful life even ts h a s focused on the

question of what dim ensions or a sp ec ts of life events m ake them

stressful. The m ost extensively studied question h as been w hether

the stressfu lness of an even t is a function of the am ount of change it

entails, regard less of w hether the ch ange is for better or w orse, or

w hether only even ts that involve undesirable change a re stressful.

Studies have shown the significance of ch an g e per s e (Dohrenwend,

1973) and the undesirability of change (G ersten, Langner, E isenber &

Orzek, 1973).

Confusion also abounds in the literature regarding how

life-change even ts are b est evaluated. The original life-change event

scaling experim ent w as reported by Holmes and R ahe (1967). The

dim ension upon which they sca led life even ts w as "change" from a

"steady state" of psychosocial adjustm ent. This dim ension of change

w as consisten t with the concept of hom eostatic balance. The

majority of stud ies on life ch ange s tre ss have used Life C hange Units

(LCU) in scoring life change questionnaires. Interjudge reliability of

LCU ratings have been high and correlations of ratings by discrete

social, religious, age, and ethnic subgroups w ere above .90 with the

exception that the reliability betw een ratings by African Am ericans

and European-A m ericans w as .82 (Holmes & R ahe, 1967). R ahe (1969)

found tha t cross-cultural ag reem en t on ratings has been high.

N evertheless, controversy still exist regarding th e applicability

of se lec ted life s tre ss events to African Americans. Little research

has been conducted to determ ine if African A m ericans evaluate life

even ts in a similar m anner a s European-A m ericans. The

cross-cultural studies that exist indicate concordance in the rankings

of life even ts am ong different cultural groups and indicate that

econom ic conditions and cultural differences have a minimal effect

upon the rankings. (Holmes & Rahe, 1967; Kamaroff, M asuda & Holmes,

1968; M asuda & Holmes, 1967; W oon, M asuda, W agner, & H om es, 1971

Wyatt, 1977) sta ted that without distinguishing betw een econom ic

and racial/cultural variables, th ese findings minimize the im portance

of examining effects of econom ic s tre ss upon an individual's coping

style and confound the effects of the culture of poverty with the

culture of ethnicity and/or minority status. S tudies have found that

p e rsons of a lower c lass live under m ore unfavorable conditions than

th o se of higher social s ta tus and experience more life even ts and life

ch an g es tha t can b e described a s undesirable than do higher sta tus

individuals. Wyatt (1977) em phasized the im portance of recognizing

and distinguishing betw een econom ic and cultural variables. In her

study, it w as found tha t items related to em ploym ent and econom ic

levels (changes in eating, sleeping, health, job responsibility,

pregnancy, and financial status) required significantly m ore life

ad justm ent for African Americans w hen com pared with rankings from

a m iddle-class Anglo-American group. T hese results

indicated th a t the econom ic level and the circum stances of everyday

living required m ore em otional resources (coping) than those expected

of the av erag e person.

Perception of the s tre sso r

The judgm ent th a t a particular person-environm ent relationship

is stressful hinges on cognitive appraisal (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).

Cognitive appra isa ls a re the evaluative cognitive p ro cesses that

intervene betw een the encounter and the reaction. Through cognitive

appraisal p ro cesses , the person evaluates the significance of w hat is

happening for his/her well-being. In other words, the person defines

the relationship he/she is experiencing. Cognitive appraisal is the

concept that m akes s tre ss a them e psychologically (Lazarus, 1986)

and the model that w as used in this study.

Lazarus (1986) identified three kinds of cognitive appraisal:

primary, secondary, reappraisal. Primary appraisal is evaluating

w hether the individual is in trouble or being benefitted now or in the

future and in w hat way. The primary appraisal m ay be irrelevant,

benign positive, or stressful. If stressful, it m ay be appraised a s a

threat, a challenge, or harmful/loss. Secondary appraisal involves

evaluating w hat might and can be done. Secondary appraisal activity

is a crucial feature of every stressful encounter b ecau se the outcom e

d ep en d s on what, if anything, can be done, a s well a s on w hat is at

stake (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Secondary appraisal tak es into

account two expectancies: outcom e expectancies and efficacy

expectancies. Reappraisal is a re-evaluation of the s tre ss stimuli

and/or what can be done.

Centrality also plays an important part in the appraisal of a

stressful situation and one 's ability to cope (Lazarus, 1986). Central

h ass le s refer to the important them es in a person 's life such a s

beliefs about oneself and the world, com m itm ents, inepitudes in the

way one co p es in certain situations, and skill in m anaging certain

interpersonal relationships. Central h ass le s a re the result of

personal vulnerabilities and reflect personal problem s of em otional

control and deficits in coping skills. B ecause such beliefs about

oneself are the outcom e of cultural influences, central h a ss le s can be

culturally specific. Life experiences that impact on specific

ethnic/cultural groups, can influence the beliefs and attitudes one

has about him/herself, which m ay be different from other

ethnic/cultural groups that have different life experiences. Central

h ass le s recur more often than peripheral hassles. Peripheral hass les

have to do with vicissitudes of the m om ent - a traffic jam, the

w eather. They com e and go without any special or long-lasting

significance, but can be just a s strong a s a central hassle . The

difference lies in the significance and the co n seq u en ces thereafter.

The issue of centrality is important in tha t if psychological

sym ptom s a re out front, then one should look not just a t any s tre ss in

the person 's life and not only a t those reactions th a t are m ore

intense, but look at th ose that have important significance in the

individual's psychological m akeup (Lazarus, 1986).

Emotional reaction

Emotional response is ano ther com ponent of s tress . Emotions,

their intensities, qualities, conditions, and p ro cesses give m ore

information abou t what the individual is experiencing than any

47

unidimensional variable (Cox, 1978; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).

A ppraisals of environm ental conditions viewed a s threatening and/or

frustrating elicit anger and anxiety a s the primary emotional

reactions (Spielberger, 1986).

The emotional reaction, anxiety, is defined a s an "unpleasurable

affect consisting of psychophysiological ch an g es in response to an

intrapsychic conflict (Freedm an, Kaplan, & Sadock, 1972, p. 753). It

is usually a diffused, unpleasant, often vague feeling of apprehension,

accom panied by one or m ore recurring bodily sensations. According to

Lewis (1970), anxiety is out of proportion to the threat. Spielberger

(1986) defines two constructs of anxiety. An anxiety s ta te (A-State)

consists of feelings of tension, apprehension, nervousness, worry, and

a heightened activation or arousal of the autonom ic nervous system .

A-State may vary from mild apprehension to intense fear and panic.

Trait anxiety (A-Trait) refers to individual differences in their

p ron en ess to experience th e se em otions. P erso n s high in trait anxiety

a re m ore vulnerable to evaluation by others b e ca u se they tend to be

low in self-esteem and lacking in self-confidence (Spielberger,

1986).

48

S ources of S tress Among African American W omen

In regards to the s tre ss of women and African A m ericans,

resea rch ers have investigated (1) biological factors, and (2)

psychosocial factors. There is evidence to support the relationship

betw een th e se factors and s tress .

Biological factors

G enetic factors that a re commonly investigated am ong w om en and

African Am ericans a re ch an g es in horm one levels and skin color.

Estrogen, a fem ale horm one, has been shown to have an inverse

relationship with levels of s tre ss in wom en (Morse & Furst, 1982,

p p .3 1 ,181), thus increased levels of anxiety m ay be due to periods of

w om ens' lives when estrogen levels a re low. R ecent stud ies show

that estrogen helps protect wom en against s tre ss related d isea se s

such a s heart attacks (Colburn & Buonassisi, 1978; Martinson &

A nderson, 1979; McGill, Anselmo, B uchanan & Sheridan, 1980) and

infectious d isea se s (Klebanoff, 1979). During the reproductive years,

w hen faced with challenging psychological and social s tresso rs ,

fem ales produce less s tre ss horm ones than do m ales (Collins &

F rankenhaeuser, 1978; F rankenhaeuser, e ta l ., 1978). This is believed

to m ake wom en less susceptib le to stress-re la ted d iseases .

S om e researchers have tried to determ ine a relationship betw een

skin color and s tre ss (Boyle, 1970; Harburg, e ta l ., 1978a, 1978b).

Boyle (1970) proposed a genetic reason for the higher prevalence of

hypertension in Blacks, b a sed upon a positive correlation of elevated

blood p ressu re with skin color a s determ ined by a photoelectric

reflectance colorimeter. However, a su b seq u en t study suggested that

social c la ss and a g e w ere m ore consistently asso c ia ted with the

incidence of hypertension (Keil, Tyroler, Sandifer & Boyle, 1977).

Since cognitive appraisal is an important factor in psychological

s tress , genetic explanations have been insufficient for drawing

conclusions about sex and ethnic differences and do little to explain

the multidimensional nature of s tress . In the study by Harburg, et al.,

(1978a) the darker individuals am ong Blacks w ere poorer, le ss well

educa ted and m ore subject to social s tress. The interpretation

suggesting a genetic explanation w as challenged. Their higher

prevalence of hypertension w as said to be a result of enhanced social

s tress .

The b e st m easure of "whiteness" is the p re sen ce of positive Duffy

blood proteins. A study by Miller and Miller (1985) w as undertaken to

determ ine if an association existed betw een the p resen ce of Duffy

proteins an d the prevalence of hypertension in a group of Blacks.

50

Their study dem onstrated a lack of a positive association and it w as

su g g ested that social c la ss rather than skin color w as assoc ia ted

with the g rea ter prevalence of hypertension in Blacks.

Psychosocial factorsR esearch on psychosocial factors have exam ined m ost extensively

stressful life events. In regards to African Am ericans the possibility

of racial, ethnic, and national variation in the perception of

life-change even ts has been voiced since Holmes & R ahe (1967)

reported their work on the construction of the Social R eadjustm ent

Rating S cale (1967) from d a ta provided by 394 W ashington s ta te

subjects. Holmes and R ahe (1967) found that cross-cultural

ag reem en t on ratings have been high. Kamaroff, M asuda and Holmes

(1968), M asuda and Holmes (1967), Woon, M asuda, W agner, and Holmes

(1971), have found concordance am ong various cultural groups in their

rankings of life events. The cultural groups investigated w ere

J ap a n e se , M alaysians, African Americans, M exican-Americans, and

European-A m ericans. However, Fairbank and Hough (1981) pointed out

a num ber of methodological problem s in research attem pting to

d e tec t cultural differences in the perception of life even ts and

sugg ested the need for research that would ad d ress those

m ethodological concerns. They have noted that stud ies have been

disproportionately hom ogeneous upper c lass and have not exam ined a

51

range of social c la sse s within a culture. The lack of ad eq u a te

translation and instrum ent construction p rocedures cannot a ssu re

researchers of the deg ree of consistency ac ro ss cultural groups.

Wyatt (1977) has cautioned researchers abou t the confounding of

results, w hen distinctions betw een ethnic/cultural s ta tu s and

socioeconom ic s ta tu s are not m ade. In her study of m iddle-class

African Americans, sh e found that items related to em ploym ent and

econom ic levels (changes in eating, sleeping, health, job

responsibility, pregnancy, and financial status) required significantly

more life adjustm ent w hen com pared with rankings from a

m iddle-class Anglo-American group and th a t this finding indicated

that the econom ic level and circum stances of everyday living required

more emotional resources (coping) than th ose expected of the average

person.

In addition, M agnusson (1982) stated that physical-geographical

conditions and sociocultural patterns are believed to govern the

conditions tha t will be perceived a s particularly threatening for a

population. In a cross-cultural study of reactions to anxiety

provoking situations, youngsters in Hungary, Japan , and Sw eden rated

their own reactions to a num ber of hypothetical situations. Results

revealed that the youngsters differed on the m ean level of anxiety

reaction acro ss situations and on their characteristic profiles of

reaction acro ss situations (M agnusson & Stattin, 1978). M agnusson

(1982) h as pointed out the im portance of using situation-specific

data in cross-cultural research on s tre ss and anxiety.

Neither h as this research tradition su cceeded in answering

adequately m any important questions about the specific sou rces of

s tress in w om ens' lives. Being drafted, being prom oted at work, or

having one’s wife start work often ap p ea r on inventories of stressful

events, while experiencing an abortion, a rape, or a change in child

care a rrangem ents do not. O ther sources of s tress reported by women

that are specific to the genetic m ake-up of w om en a re m enstruation,

gestation, pregnancy, postpartum period, and m enopause. O ther life

sources of s tre ss reported by women are finances, housing, work,

m ale-fem ale relations, parenting, health, personal relations, legal

m atters, and personal habits (Simms & Malveaux, 1986, p. 155). Often

th ese factors a s they relate to wom en are not included on

questionnaires.

Psychosocial factors: events or conditions?

Although life events m ust be considered, they a re not the only

source of life s tre ss . Much of the s tre ss in life com es not from the

necessity of adjusting to sporadic change, but from steady,

unchanging or slowly changing oppressive conditions which m ust be

endured daily. R esearch su g g ests that stressful life conditions a s

well a s d iscrete events contribute to mental health problem s (Belle,

1982, p. 36). Makosky (1982) found that oppressive life conditions

are m ore salient in regards to s tre ss than stressful life events. For

m any African American women oppressive conditions a re a constan t

reality. Stressful life conditions which num erous African American

wom en endure a re low socioeconom ic sta tus, inter-role conflict,

sexism , racism, and ethnocentricism.

A com m on observation is the inverse relationship betw een

socioeconom ic sta tu s and stress. This observations is particularly

relevant to African American women b ecau se they are m ore likely to

be in low paying jobs. African American wom en have had a history of

steady labor force participation. However, their work legacy has been

mostly low paid, unstable work (Simms & Malveaux, 1986). Though

the s ta tu s of African American women is changing, the fruit of this

change has yet to com e. The average working woman ea rn s about 60%

of w hat the average man earns and the African Am erican's average

income is less than 60% that of W hites (Morse & Furst, 1982).

The phenom enon of women who are raising children without a

sp o u se and who a re employed in the labor m arket has been an

increasing trend within all families and especially within African

American families. Today women with children alone a re increasingly

becom ing impoverished, regardless of their labor force participation

(Simms & Malveaux, 1986). T hese wom en who are em ployed have been

restricted to low-paying jobs with limited advancem ent potential.

This p ro cess h a s been called "the feminization of powverty", a ph rase

54

particularly relevant to single wom en of color (P earce, 1979). W omen

who live in financially strained circum stances and who have

responsibility for young children a re m ore likely than other w om en to

becom e d ep re ssed (Pearlin & Johnson , 1977; Radloff, 1975).

African American wom en who a re married and working a lso

encounter financial strains frequently due to their husbands'

unem ploym ent or low paying jobs.

R egard less of marital s ta tus, ow income p laces constraints on

people and subjects them to s tre sse s that often accom pany poverty.

Willie, Kramer and Brown (1973a) noted malnutrition, psychosocial

deprivation and hypertension a s poverty related s tre sse s . Makosky

(1982) noted crime, crowding, problem s with the law, child care

ass is tan ce , parenting, inadequate medical care, poor physical health

a s s tre s s e s low incom e wom en encounter. O ther low income s tre sse s

encountered by wom en are substandard housing, low self-esteem ,

marital problem s, problem s with bill collectors, depression , suicide.

Antunes, Gordon, Gaitz & Scott (1974) noted that s tre s s e s assoc ia ted

with higher incom es a re unrelenting achievem ent dem an d s and

alterations in traditional sex roles. Also a large num ber of life

even ts commonly thought of a s beneficial such a s graduating from

college and getting a promotion, have been found to ac t a s s tresso rs

(Antunes, e t al., 1974; Dohrenwend, 1973). As more African American

w om en rise in socioeconom ic status, th ese s tre sso rs m ay becom e

more and m ore relevant.

Racial prejudice and discrimination a re other oppressive life

conditions th a t African A m ericans contend with. Social scientists

have hypothesized that non-white ethnic groups experience more

s tre ss than w hites (Mirowsky & Ross, 1980). Explanations for the

increased s tre ss are (1) prejudice and discrimination, and (2) low

social class. Prejudice and discrimination subjects African

Am ericans to situations w hereby they a re unable to obtain

certain job positions, a re paid less, unable to live w here

Anglo-Americans live, and are unable to hold the sam e power

positions in the community. Low social c lass subjects African

Am ericans to downward social p ressu re , in conjunction with the

universally held value of upward mobility. T hese conditions lead to

feelings of frustration, pow erlessness, self-hatred, and low

self-esteem . T hese feelings a re expected to produce s tre ss (Kardiner

& O vesey, 1951; Pettigrew, 1964). As M aya Angelou (1970) pointed

out, the Black wom an going through the normal hum an s tre sse s of

ado lescence and adulthood is a lso caught in the crossfire of white

prejudice, Black pow erlessness, and m asculine pride, a combination

hardly likely to g en era te a s e n se of freedom and well-being.

However, there have been inconsistent findings in regards to the

s tre ss of African Am ericans. Much of th e research does not

distinguish a s to w hether s tre ss is related to minority sta tu s - that

is being concentrated in d isadvantaged positions in the social

structure, or w hether there is som ething about their ethnic culture

that leads to increased s tress . Social scientists have hypothesized

that nonwhite populations experience m ore d istress than white

populations d u e to (1) prejudice and discrimination or (2) low social

class. Findings in this a re a s have been inconsistent (Mirowsky &

R oss, 1980). Cultural differences also are said to effect differences

in the m eaning of events or circum stances and are hypothesized to be

a factor in s tre ss . Mirowsky and R oss (1980) exam ined s tre ss of

African A m ericans, M exicans, M exican-Americans and

Anglo-Americans from th e se two perspectives and found that (1)

minority sta tus is not necessarily associated with s tress , but that

low incom e and low education a re assoc iated with s tre ss levels

am ong African Am ericans and (2) ethnic culture - differences in

beliefs, values, and patterns of living - w as a factor asso c ia ted with

the variance of s tre ss in the different ethnic groups in the study.

D istress w as m easured using 20 item s from the Langner 22-item

index (Langner, 1962). Multiple regression w as utilized to te s t every

possible first o rder interaction with the population characteristics

and with every other variables. The variables w ere minority status,

country of residence, age, sex, religion, social class, cultural

57

alienation, and marital status. W henever a significant interaction

w as found betw een a categorical variable and a continuous variable, a

Johnson-N eym an test for regions of significance w as perform ed.

Several hypotheses w ere noted by Smith (1985) in regards to

culture, race, and life s tress . O ne hypothesis is that b ecau se of

racial discrimination m em bers of non-white ethnic groups tend to

have a relatively g rea ter experience of undesirable life even ts than do

White A m ericans. The g rea ter experience of negative racially

oriented, stressful life even ts pred isposes non-white ethnic

individuals to a disporportionately higher risk for s tre ss and

psychological disorders. Som e of the research that have controlled

adequately for race and c lass (Dohrenwend & Dohrenwend, 1969,

1983; Kessler, 1979) have found that African Am ericans a re subject

to g rea te r s tre sso rs than a re W hites.

Smith (1985) d iscussed race a s a source of s tress. Racial

discrimination h as the effect of producing two types of group

m em berships: an inside-of-group and an outside-of-group distinction.

T h ese two types of group m em berships can lead to s tre ss for

m em bers, especially for those who are excluded from m em bership in a

particular group. Out-group m em bers may encounter three levels of

rejection: (1) verbal rejection, (2) discrimination, and (3) physical

attack. Out-group m em bership also has psychological co n seq u en ces

that result in social isolation, social marginality, and sta tus

inconsistency. Social isolation implies an impairment of one 's

position in a community. It h a s been theorized to c rea te a heightened

s e n se of stress . Recently, social isolation h a s been found to be a

major factor in increased risk of d isease (Eaton, 1983; Rabkin &

Struening, 1976). Marginal social s ta tus is defined a s an

incompletely assim ilated group, one that h as partially relinquished

its former culture but has not yet achieved full accep tan ce in the

new culture (Fairchild, 1961). Marginal s ta tu s is exam ined in term s

of ethnic density (ratio of Blacks to W hites in a community). Ethnic

density has been shown to be inversely related to psychosis and

psychiatric hospitalization rates. S tatus inconsistency occurs w hen

an individual has two or m ore distinct and incompatible social

s ta tu ses. The sta tus of the Black professional is often am bivalent

and b ased on the auxiliary characteristics of race and sex (Smith,

1985). Black professionals m ay experience w hat Grier and C obbs

(1968) have term ed "the penalty of success." Although allowed to be

outstanding with persons of their own race, they may nevertheless,

feel penalized w hen they com pete with W hites. The U. S. D epartm ent

of Health, Education, and W elfare (1978) h a s noted that returns on an

investm ent in education are much lower for Blacks than for the

general population and that educational attainm ent may simply m ean

exposure to more severe and visible discrimination than is

experienced by the dropout or the unschooled.

59

Ethnocentric practices and attitudes are said to be ano ther

oppressive condition African A m ericans endure and a source of s tre ss

which can lead to mental d isorders in African Americans.

Ethnocentrism is the practice of acknowledging only one 's own race or

social group a s the cen ter of culture and exhibiting an incapacity for

viewing o ther cultures favorably. African American people a re

usually judged by European-Am erican standards and values. Living in

a bicultural context often requires on e to endure a life condition of

conflicting value system s. According to the literature (Akbar, 1979;

Baldwin, 1984; Sue, 1981), th e se individuals a re often a t risk for the

developm ent of physical and psychological disorders.

Ethnocentric practices in the U. S. h as resulted in African A m ericans

not knowing or understanding them selves and their own cultural

heritage and not having positive attitudes about them selves. Living in

a society w here o n e 's cultural heritage is not acknow ledged an d is

often viewed negatively, results in negative attitudes and/or

confusion about o n e 's own culture. The individual becom es

self-alienated and thus experiences a continual s ta te of conflict with

o n e 's natural self. S ince the self is continually th rea tened the person

rem ains in a constan t s ta te of s tress . Given the oppositional nature

of African and European cosm ologies, Na'im Akbar (1979) has

identified th ree personality d isorders am ong African A m ericans that

are a result of the abnorm al-unnatural condition in which African

Am ericans live. They are alien-self, anti-self, and self-destructive

disorders.

R elated to Akbar's views, Pettigrew (1964) noted that one 's

racial s ta tu s may becom e a source of s tre ss w hen two people are

forced to play certain roles, such a s the White superior and Black

inferior roles. The s tre ss tha t African Am ericans feel could be

cau sed by the roles they a ssu m e and believe that they have to a ssu m e

in life in order to g e t along. The price of assum ing roles that su g g est

o n e 's inferiority may c au se adjustm ent difficulties or

psychopathology.

O ther so u rces of s tre ss of African A m ericans on the job a s noted

by Smith (1985) a re overobservation, visibility, lack of anonymity,

polarization, isolation, role entrapm ent, and sta tu s leveling. In

regards to African American women, it has been duly noted that

African American w om en, a s double minorities, are believed to have a

"double advantage" over other workers. Fulbright's (1986) study found

tha t contrary to this myth and popular belief, Black wom en a re not

being prom oted m ore rapidly than other, better qualified workers a s a

result of affirmative action and Black fem ale m anagers a re likely to

encounter the sam e limits to their mobility that anyone, regard less of

race or gender, might encounter, but in addition are likely to

encounter limits to their mobility on account of their race and sex .

African American w om en in m ale-dom inated occupations a re m ore

likely to encounter external barriers to their mobility than internal

barriers and a re likely to experience racism and sexism

sim ultaneously or interchangeably.

T he multiple roles tha t wom en experience is recognized a s another

source of s tre ss (Collier, 1982; Morst & Furst, 1984;). A large

percen tage of the African American fem ale population com bines the

roles of worker, wife, and m other (Harrison & Minor, 1978). Although

assum ing multiple roles can be stressful, the long history of African

American wom en combining th e se roles has led many to believe that

th e se wom en have acquired effective coping strateg ies. Collier

(1982) noted th a t while Black families exp ress a m ore traditional

ideology about the family and sex-roles than do White families, in

fact they show m ore egalitarian behavior than do W hites. Beckett

(1976) found tha t Black wom en have m ore confidence in their ability

to com bine c a ree r and family than White women, that Black men are

more likely than White m en to approve of this combination, and that,

if the m en do not approve, the wom en a re less likely to be influenced

by them and m ore likely to exp ress confidence in them selves a s

w orkers than White w om en. Harrison and Minor (1978) found that

Black working w ives u sed different coping stra teg ies depending upon

the type of interrole conflict, ie. wife and worker roles, m other and

wife roles, m other and worker roles. The coping strateg ies may

involve (1) changing the external and/or internal environment, such a s

discussing a particular situation with one 's boss to bring about a

ch ange in policy, (2) seeing one 's own behavior or the external

expectations in a different light, while others' behaviors and

attitudes remain unchanged, such a s telling oneself tha t certain

household cho res are not important, or (3) making an attem pt to

improve the quality of o n e 's role perform ance. The last m entioned

coping strategy is viewed a s involving the m ost personal strain a s

there is no attem pt to change internal or external perceptions of one 's

role an d requires behaviors such a s planning, scheduling, organizing

better, and working harder.

African American wom en may have acquired a variety of coping

stra teg ies due to their long history of assum ing multiple roles.

However, due to racism and sexism , their situations tend to be less

stable, resulting in m ore frequent life ch an g es and uncertainty. In

considering d a ta pertaining to s tress and life ch an g e events and/or

conditions, the African American wom en are m ore likely to

experience s tress .

Sex-role socialization and sexism m ay be ano ther source of

s tress am ong African American women (Morst & Furst, 1982).

Internalization and adherence to traditional sex-roles limit the

adoption of alternative behaviors. This sex-role orientation produces

s tre ss am ong women w hen they encounter circum stances tha t require

m ore flexible behaviors.

The subordination of African American m ales in the labor m arket

has m ade participation of African American wom en in the labor

m arket essen tial for econom ic survival of African American families

(Collier, 1982; Engram, 1980). African American wom en therefore

are socialized to participate in the work force. Although African

American wom en are socialized to participate in th e workplace, they

hold a traditional ideology (Collier, 1982; McCray, 1980; M orse &

Furst, 1982) and highly value childrearing. Thus, African American

wom en may experience s tre ss due to the conflict in their va lues and

their social reality.

Milham an d Smith (1981) found that African Am ericans a re

generally le ss concerned with traditional sex-role differentiation as

defined by the European-American majority. However, African

A m ericans tended to hold traditional behavioral roles in the m arriage

relationship, with the husband assum ing the role of head of the

household and protector. Milham and Smith (1981) noted th a t this

may b e an additional source of s tre ss for African American wom en

since they value the equal distribution of work within the marital

relationship, but are sim ltaneously asked to passively relinguish

much of the resulting power within the sam e relationship.

African American w om en have historically been subjected to the

traditional social prescriptions of the larger society while a t the

sam e time faced with societal im pedim ents to conform to those

prescriptions (Engram, 1980). Thus, they may also experience s tre ss

and/or conflict when encountering persons who, b ecau se they uphold a

traditional sex-role orientation, define the behaviors of African

American women a s pathological or restrict their options.

C onsistent with such an orientation, young African American

wom en have high occupational aspirations (Antonovsky, 1959; Sain,

1966; Thorpe, 1969). T hese aspirations, however, historically have

not been translated into high occupations and incom es (Lerner, 1972),

since African American wom en traditionally have had the lowest

m edian level of occupation and income of any other race-sex group

(Gurin, 1966; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1980; U.S. W om en's

Bureau, 1977). The inability to fulfill ones ' aspirations m ay be

perceived a s stressful. Sinick (1977) w arned that high occupational

aspirations without an accom panying rise in appropriate occupational

opportunities can simply raise anxieties and som etim es create

em otional disturbances.

African American wom en who are moving up the econom ic ladder

and who a re filling occupational positions that formerly w ere not

open to African Americans or women may not be viewed seriously on

the job b ecau se of racial and sexual stereotypical attitudes and

beliefs tha t o thers may hold. Typical s tereo types (Hennig & Jardim ,

1977) abou t women in the workplace are and about African American

wom en (Hook, 1981; Smith & Stewart, 1983; Turner, 1988) are:

1. w om en cannot handle heavy responsibility

2. w om en are too emotional

3. w om en ask for special privileges

4. w om en a re terrible b o sses , and men do not like

to work for them .

5. w om en are terrible b o sses, and other w om en do

not like to work for them.

6. w om en cannot g e t along with their p eers

7. w om en m anagers are unfeminine

8. w om en use dirtier tactics than m en to climb up

the corporate ladder

9. w om en cannot do two jobs well; either hom e or

c a ree r m ust suffer

10. wom en returning to the job m arket a re unskilled

11. young married wom en cannot take m anagem ent jobs

b e ca u se they will move with their executive husbands

12. African Am ericans are intellectually inferior

13. African Am ericans lack ambition and drive

14. African Am ericans are childlike

T hese and other myths, look p ast the talents of w om en and in

particular African American wom en and expose them to the s tre ss of

unfulfilled aspirations, overobservation in the workplace, and g rea ter

hostility. In regards to hostility, a reporting by Malveaux (1984),

stated that the m ore evenly integrated the workplace (35 to 50

percent Black), the g rea ter the hostility experienced by th e Black

wom an worker.

Another source of s tre ss for African American wom en is sexual

h arassm en t (B ackhouse, 1981; Malveaux, 1984). The sexual

exploitation of African Amrican wom en w as incorporated into the

sociopolitical structure of U.S. society during tim es of slavery

(Brownmiller, 1975). Attitudes and myths about African

American wom en stem m ing from that structure continue to devalue

African American wom en (Hooks, 1981). Thus, they a re frequently

subjected to sexual harrassm en t and/or assau lt.

Epidemiology of S tress Among African American W om en

Investigations into the incidence of s tre ss am ong African

American women bring c au se for concern due to the high ra tes of

reported s tress and s tre ss related d isea ses . African American

women experience g rea ter morbidity and mortality from s tre ss

related d isea se than European-Am erican w om en (Chavkin, 1984).

H eart d isea se , the leading c au se of death, is often a sso c ia ted with

s tre ss . Statistics (Markides, 1983) for 1977 show an overall

age-ad justed heart d isea se rate of 204 per 100,000 for African

American wom en com pared with 137 for European-Am erican w om en.

For cancer, African American wom en had a rate of 130 d ea th s per

100,000 com pared with a ra te of 108 per 100,000 for

European-A m erican wom en (Chavkin, 1984). High blood p ressu re , a

condition commonly associated with stress , affects alm ost 24

million Americans, a significant num ber of whom are African

A m ericans (Kirk, 1986). The epidemiology of d iabetes am ong African

American wom en betw een the ag es of 25 and 44 is sev en teen times

g rea ter than that am ong European-Am erican wom en (West, 1975). The

1975 Health Interview Survey (Christmas, 1983) reported African

American wom en having the lowest level of em otional well-being

ac ro ss sex an d race, with 63% of African American wom en reporting

m oderate to severe levels of d istress. Suicide is ano ther indicator of

m ental s tre ss am ong Black fem ales (Smith, 1981). Generally

speaking, re sea rch ers have indicated tha t suicide am ong Blacks is

increasing (Davis, 1975; Seiden, 1976; Slater, 1973) and has reached

alm ost epidem ic proportions am ong younger African American m ales

(Kirk, 1986). The suicide ra te am ong African American women

increase 34% am ong the 20 - 24 age group and 14% am ong th e 25 - 29

ag e group (Smith, 1981). From 1970 to 1975, 8136 Black suicides

68

occurred with 1944 (25%) of them fem ale and 6142 (75%) of them

m ale. Alcoholism, another indicator of s tre ss am ong Black wom en

ap p ea rs to be worsening (Smith, 1981). C ahalan & Cisin (1968) found

that com pared with White women, Black wom en had a much higher

proportion of absta iners and a higher rate of heavy drinkers.

The U.S. D epartm ent of Health and Human Serv ices (1987) reports

58.8 African Americans evidence hypertension out of a 1000 a s

com pared to 38.0 European-A m ericans out of a 1000.

Effects of_Stress on African American W omen

African American women experience the sam e stress-re la ted

d ise a se s of other groups of people. The disorders that have attracted

m ost attention are neuroses, coronary heart d isease , an d alimentary

conditions such a s dyspepsia and ulcers (Cox, 1978). Among African

American wom en hypertension and d iabetes a re particular a re a s of

concern due to the fact that African Americans with d iabetes are a t a

higher risk than European Am ericans with d iabetes (H eaden & H eaden,

1986) and a re more likely to have hypertension assoc ia ted with

d iabetes.

Ju st a s important, African American w om en a re m ore likely to

experience negative life conditions and develop attitudes and/or

beliefs th a t deny the affirmation of self. This factor along with

s tre sso rs that a re common to other populations may com pound the

effects of s tre ss and contribute to the high ra tes of s tre ss am ong

African American women. Many Black psychologists (Akbar, 1979;

Baldwin, 1981; Nobles, 1980) s e e the need to alleviate African

Am ericans from the s tre sse s they encounter tha t stem from the

socioeconom ically and politically oppressive nature of this society a s

vital to the survival of African American people. In the attem pt to

adjust to W estern oppression, African A m ericans have acquired

behaviors that a re reactive to this unnatural condition. The nature of

the oppression results in the acquisition of behaviors tha t a re faulty,

pathological, and self-destructive. This s ta te of affairs, a s noted by

Akbar (1979) and Baldwin (1981), along with a lack of racial-cultural

co n sc io u sn ess and alm ost total d ependence upon the dom inant culture,

p laces African American people on the brink of self-destruction. O ne

of the functions of culture is to establish one 's identity. If the

culture is not acknow ledged then tha t does not occur. Na'im Akbar

(1979) s ta ted that people who know them selves will love them selves

and, if permitted, take excellent care of them selves.

70

Appioach.es, Ear Bedd in g Streg.g

A review of m ethods for s tre ss reduction and/or m angagem ent

com prise primarily drug, cognitive, and behavioral strategies.

Drugs have long been u sed to alleviate the experience of s tress ,

either a s adjuncts to o ther types of therapy or a s a therapy in

them selves. They provide a powerful w ay of changing cognitive

appraisal, and may do so by distorting a num ber of important

perceptions. As a result of an altered appraisal of the situation a

person may feel differently about it, and respond differently to it.

Although drug-induced ch an g es in cognitive appraisal can be

beneficial, they can produce problem s. B esides reducing the

im m ediate experience both cognitively and behaviorally, they

m ay form the basis for the developm ent of psychological and/or

physical dep en d en ce . W here drugs a re used to relieve the experience

of and effects of s tress , som e attem pt m ust also be m ade to deal

with the source of the s tress .

The occurrence and experience of s tre ss m ay be reduced by an

attenuation of the actual dem ands m ade on the person. This may

involve altering the physical environm ent or providing so m e sort of

social ch ange or engineering. This m ethod of reducing s tre ss is less

than com pletely satisfactory b ecau se new problem s tend to surface.

Altering o n e 's ability to cope is another m eans of reducing

s tre ss . Ability to co p e with s tre ss can change with a num ber of

factors such a s education an d training. However, if altering o n e 's

ability to cope is not possible, supporting one 's ability to cope is an

alternative. An exam ple of this type of coping is that of reducing

o n e 's job dem ands by assum ing som e of his/her responsibilities.

As the occurrence of s tre ss re la tes to a perceptual im balance

betw een dem and and capability, alteration of the perceptual

m echanism s is a powerful s tre ss m anagem ent technique. The

perception of each of the th ree a sp ec ts of cognitive appraisal -

dem and, capability, and im portance of coping - may be altered. As

this is brought about through counseling, it helps by assisting the

individual to develop more realistic appraisals of the problem

situation, to build or rebuild self-confidence, to try and practice

possible coping strategies, an d to change attitudes and priorities. For

people experiencing num erous oppressive events or conditions in their

lives which result in lowered self-esteem , pow erlessness, denial of

self-worth, cognitive reappraisal would be beneficial. Evaluating

one 's belief system s offer a way to reappraise one 's situations. Until

recently (slightly over a decade), the culturally specific belief

system s of African Am ericans had not been investigated.

72

Africentric and Eurocentric World Views

Throughout recent counseling literature, a num ber of individuals

(Nobles, 1980; Sue, 1981; White, White, & Parham , 1980) have

ex p ressed concern that traditional W estern derived counseling m odels

may not be relevant for counseling non-W estern b ased populations

(Ruiz & Padilla, 1977; Smith, 1985; W eem s, 1972; Sue, 1978). There

prevails in W estern psychology the belief and/or practice of its

universal applicability to all cultures of people. W estern derived

and/or European counseling theories are em bedded in their cultural

context reflecting philosophical assum ptions which underly European

and European-Am erican culture. P ed ersen (1987) has described many

of th e se philosophical assum ptions: em phasis on individualism,

assum ptions of universal normality, overem phasis on independence,

neglect of the client's support system s, d ependence on linear

thinking, neglect of history, cultural encapsulation, dep en d en ce on

abstractions, fragm entation of academ ic disciplines, and focus on

changing the individual and not the system . T hese Eurocentric beliefs

have traditionally represen ted the model for normality. As a result of

this notion, people who deviated from this model w ere viewed a s

pathological or inferior. Furtherm ore, without an alternative fram e

of reference for conceptualizing African American behaviors and

beliefs, m any African Am ericans internalized th ese inferior attitudes

and beliefs and/or m anifested dysfunctional behaviors (Akbar, 1984).

R ecent literature h as em phasized that unless theories and

stra teg ies consider the sociopolitical realities of African Americans,

little is believed to be gained in alleviating or assisting African

Am ericans with their problem s (Baldwin, 1984). The sociopolitical

situation of African Am ericans is characterized a s one of oppression

by Europeans. Throughout the world, African American people and

their d escen d an ts a re totally economically d ependen t on them for

life-support resources, are lacking true racial-cultural

consciousness, are intellectually dependen t upon Europeans, and

dem onstrate values, attitudes, politics, and leadership merely

imitative of the European community (Baldwin, 1984).

Furtherm ore, African Am ericans seem to be unaw are and thus

unalarm ed by this situation. Noting this abnorm al s ta te of affairs and

the increasing rates of drug addiction and ab u se , suicidal behavior,

deviant sexual behavior, and emotional s tre ss am ong African

Americans, Black psychologists a re em phasizing the im portance of

broadening the context of African American mental health to

eco m p ass th ese m ore sociopolitical behavior patterns that have clear

psychological implications w here the welfare and survival of the

African American community is concerned (Akbar, 1974 ,1979 ;

Baldwin, 1980 ,1981 ; Clark, M cGee, Nobles & W eem s, 1975; Nobles,

1976; Wright, 1979). Within the p ast two d ecad es , a num ber of

psychologists have independently converged on an approach to the

science of mind and behavior that is rooted in the traditional African

world view (Akbar, 1976 ,1981 , 1984; Baldwin, 1981, 1984; Clark,

McGee, Nobles, & W eem s, 1975; Frye, 1980; Myers, 1981; Nobles,

1972 ,1980). This developm ent h as provided an alternative fram e of

reference that acknow ledges the socioeconom ic and political

realities of African American people and capitalizes upon their

strengths. Africentric world view, a s opposed to Eurocentric world

view is believed to have the potential for liberating African American

people from m any of the mental health problem s they have (Akbar,

1984; Myers, 1985; Nobles, 1980).

The Africentric world view refers to the values, attitudes and

custom s of Africans and people of African descen t. The extent to

which African Am ericans uphold th e se values varies. People who a re

said to have a high level of Africentricity a re also identified a s

having a high d eg ree of Black consciousness, Black aw areness,

African self-consciousness, and/or ethnic identity. Thus th e se words

are often used interchangeably.

African Am ericans have been socialized into the cultural beliefs

of European-A m ericans and thus may not operate from an Africentric

belief system . Yet, m any African Am ericans, due to their isolated

sta tu s in the U.S. society, are believed to have m aintained all or

rem nants of the Africentric world view. Nobles (1980) sta ted that

m any Black Am ericans have an Africentric disposition, even after

years of separation from Africa, due primarily to their isolation into

ghettos and Black com m unities in America. Also, the fact that

Africentricity is non-threatening in nature to the dom inant culture,

has allowed for its survival am ong African Americans.

Several writers (Clark e t al., 1975; Mbiti, 1970; Nobles, 1980)

have noted several basic philosophical differences betw een people of

European d escen t and people of African descen t. Several empirical

studies (Azibo, 1983a, 1983b; Baldwin, Duncan, & Bell, 1987; Curry,

1981; Gibson, 1984; Kelsey, 1983) have noted the differences in

behaviors and beliefs. Som e of the basic beliefs and philosophical

assum ptions of an Africentric world view are a s follows (Clark e t al.,

1975; Mbiti, 1970; Nobles, 1980; White, Parham & Parham , 1980):

Unity. Unity is the belief that everything is functionally

connected (Nobles, 1980). The social order is projected in the

individual. The individual thus is a microcosm of the whole and is

not viewed a s being sep a ra te or apart from his/her environment.

This concept w as so ingrained into the African culture that a

s e n s e of collective responsibility developed. Unity is reproduced

in every person and thus the African

conception of humankind is holistic (Jereb, 1982). This has

resulted in Black culture's belief that rational p ro c e sses and

feelings a re equal a sp ec ts of the hum an condition (White, Parham

& Parham , 1980).

Tim e. Time focuses on the p resen t and the past, with the

direction of one 's life system going from the p resen t to the past.

Time is a composition of p ast events, and thus 1 ittle concern is

given to time in and of itself. Time exists, but is very

elastic. In other words, more can always be added , so time is

flexible to include m ore in the present. S ince time is

reckoned by phenom ena, it m ust be experienced to be real. The

p resen t is to be fully experienced. The belief that time is

phenom enal and flexible is dem onstrated am ong African

A m ericans with the notion that an event begins w hen the

individual arrives. CP time (colored people's time) is the

result of attending to the business a t hand and w hat is being

experienced in the present. Since the future cannot be

g u aran teed little em phasis is placed on it. Time constraints

forces one not to be able to experience the p resen t and thus to

live not in the present.

Death and Imortalitv. Physical death is a m ovem ent into ano ther

s tag e and is just a part of the p rocess of s tag es one g o es through

from birth, puberty, initiation rites, m arriage, childrearing, elder,

physical death, living dead , and entry into the community of the

spirits. After physical death , and a s long a s one is rem em bered

by friends and relatives, one continues to exist in the family of

ancesto rs , or the living-dead. Paradoxically, death lies in the

future, but w hen one d ies sh e /h e begins to travel back in time.

African American gospel music treats death a s an event which is

continuously p resen t (White, Parham , & Parham , 1980).

Survival of the G roup. Since everything is functionally

connected , concern for the group is of utm ost importance.

O ne 's ex istence and identity com es from the group, thus one 's

efforts a re for the welfare of the group. Evidence of ex tended

kinship and social orientation am ong African Am ericans has been

well docum ented (Guthrie, 1980; Hale-Benson, 1985; Nobles,

1976 ,1980 ; White, 1980). White, Parham and Parham (1980) have

sta ted tha t em phasis on cooperation and in terdependence for

group survival reduces the ch an ces for alienation which ap p ears

to be a by-product of W estern society’s concentration on

individualism and com petitiveness.

78

Self C oncept. The self concep t is found through "we ness". It is

through the group that o n e develops her/his own identity. "I am

b e ca u se we a re and b ecau se w e are, therefore, I am" (Mbiti, 1970).

Oral Tradition. In the African culture, the griot, the oral

historian, is the link betw een the p resen t and the p a s t (White et

al., 1980). The griot is acknow ledged m uch respect. This

practice em phasizes the oral or verbal nature of the Black

language. Another facet of Black language is its participatory

nature (White e t al., 1980). This is reflected in the call and

resp o n se behavior frequently observed in Black churches. It is

also reflected in the m usic and dance of African American

people w here instrum ents respond to each other throughout

their com positions. It is frequently observed in hom es and

African American neighborhoods w here family m em bers and

neighbors speak a t the sa m e time others a re speaking

offering encouragem ent to o thers in the group to continue

speaking.

O ne with N ature. The African culture values living in harmony

with nature. S ince everything is functionally connnected,

destruction of any one category is believed to be the

destruction of everything.

79

Extended Kinship. African kinship is an extension of the

concern for the tribe. Each person is related to all other

m em bers of the tribe, ancestors, and the unborn (Nobles,

1980). Kinship ex tends laterally and vertically. Individuals

cannot live alone and owe their ex istence to the existence of all

other m em bers. Only in term s of o ther people d o e s the

individual becom e conscious of her/his own being (Mbiti,

1970).

In sum m ary, the Africentric world view values a com m unal

orientation, a spiritual/material ontology, and harm ony with nature

a s noted by Nobles, (1980).

The European world view is b ased on philosophical assum ptions

that are different than the Africentric world view and have been

described (Clark, e ta l ., 1975; Mbiti, 1970; Nobles, 1980; Sue, 1977;

White, e t al., 1980; Mbiti, 1970) a s having th e following

charateristics:

Individualism. Individualism is the belief that uniqueness is

m ost important. The Eurocentric em phasis on individualism is

often dem onstrated in the focus on individual rights,

independence, competition, self-reliance. In counseling,

em phasis is placed on self aw aren ess and self enhancem ent

often to the neglect of environmental or system ic factors

(P edersen , 1988). This may c a u se clients to blam e them selves

needlessly for institutional or system ic problem s.

Time. Time is com partm entalized, m easured quantitatively in

numerical units. The primary focus is on the future. Thus one

should work hard and practice self denial in order to reach som e

goal in the future.

Self C oncept. O ne 's self or identity is defined by its

un iqueness and the em phasis is placed on individualism and

individual characteristics. The self is seen a s sep a ra te from the

physical world and others. Autonomy is encouraged an d

em phasis is placed on solving o n e 's own personal problem s,

acquiring one 's own possessions, and standing up for o n e 's own

rights (Axelson, 1985; Sue, 1977).

Perception of the W orld. The world is viewed a s som ething to

m aster or control. The world is sep a ra te from hum ankind and

is physical, m echanical, and follows rational laws. Thus the

world is viewed a s an object to be exploited, controlled, and

developed for the material benefit of people (Sue, 1981).

Activity. The Eurocentric world view values activity a s a

preferred modality. Activism is the m ode of problem solving and

decision making. Learning is active and European-A m ericans

place em phasis on planning behavior.

Dualism. The Eurocentric view p laces g rea ter em phasis on

rational p ro c e sses rather than feeling p rocesses.

In sum m ary, the Eurocentric world view values individualism,

com petitiveness, a future orientation, separation of material and

spiritual reality, and dualism. The Eurocentric belief system along

with ethnocentrism have resulted in viewing African A m ericans a s

deficent and inferior. This s ta te of affairs has in turn led m any

African Am ericans to internalize th ese beliefs and to se e their own

behaviors a s a resp o n se to their own value system a s inappropriate.

E u r o p e a n Wo r l d V i e w A f r i c a n Wor l d V i e w

I n d i v i d u a l i t yU n i q u e n e s sD i f f e r e n c e s

C o m p e t i t i o n I n d i v i d ua l R i g h t s S e p a r a t e n e s s &.

I n d e p e n d e n c e

S u r v i v a l of t h e F i t t e s t C o n t r o l o v e r N a t u r e

G r o u p n e s sS a m e n e s sC o m m o n a l i t y

C o o p e r a t i o nC o l l e c t i v e R e s p o n s i b i l i t y C o o p e r a t i o n &

I n t e r d e p e n d e n c e

S u r v i v a l o f t h e T r i b e One w i t h N a t u r e

Note: From Jo n es , R. (Ed.). Black Psychology (2nd ed.) New York: Harper Row.

Figure 5

Com parison of European and Africentric World Views

World View and S tress

R ecent literature (Akbar, 1979; Baldwin, 1981; Myers, 1985;

Nobles, 1980) s ta te that people of varying cultural backgrounds

opera te on different belief system s. Akbar (1979), Baldwin (1981),

Myers (1985) have noted that people 's belief system s a re always

underpinned by particular philosophical assum ptions and orientations.

Often, th e se assum ptions are not a part of the conscious aw aren ess of

the believers, yet they very much sh ap e their beliefs. The

philosophical assum ptions one ad h eres to ultimately determ ine the

way one s e e s the world and thus experiences it. World view affects

the definition of and partly determ ines the course of reaction to o n e 's

external environm ent (Fine, Schw ebel, & Myers, 1985).

The Africentric world view h as many implications for reducing

s tre ss in African A m ericans. The im portance of cognitive appraisal

a s an evaluative p rocess that defines the situation or condition an

individual is experiencing a s part of the s tre ss p rocess h as been

d iscussed . Africentric world view acknow ledges the differences of

African American people from a positive fram e of reference and

capitalizes upon their strengths. It provides a framework of

conceptualizing the behaviors of African American people apart from

the deficit model that stem s from the Eurocentric belief system .

This perception or appraisal of African American behaviors can then

becom e the basis for defining or evaluating situations or conditions

African American people experience. Viewing the world and

them selves apart from deficit m odels can enable African Am ericans

to view their behaviors and psychological functioning from a positive

and affirming fram e of reference (Akbar, 1984; Nobles, 1980).

In Africentric world view, o n e 's self-concept is found and

develops through the group. W hen one 's behaviors a re defined and

evaluated from a positive fram e of reference, then balance and

harmony can be achieved with respect to one' behaviors, values, and

self-concept. Acknowledging one 's differences with accep tance can

serve to m ediate s tre ss becau se self accep tance is an important and

central them e in people 's lives. As noted previously, centrality plays

an important part in the appraisal of a stressful situation and refers

to the important them es in a person 's life such a s beliefs about

oneself and the world, com m itm ents, and inepitudes in the way one

copes in certain situations (Lazarus, 1986).

To further understand how the Africentric belief system would

aid in reducing or coping with s tre ss , the specific constructs of

Africentric world view m ust be considered. The Africentric world

view values a com m unal orientation, a s opposed to an individualistic,

competitive orientation. O ne who believes he/she belongs to a social

network of com m unication and mutual obligation experiences social

support (Cobb, 1976). R esearch on s tre ss and social support provide

evidence th a t social support functions a s a m oderator of s tre ss by

counteracting undesirable co n seq u en ces (Sarason, 1980).

Another a sp ec t of the Africentric world view that may serve to

reduce s tre ss , is its value of a harm onious relationship with nature.

Eurocentric world view values m astery or control over nature. The

individual perceives him/herself sep a ra te from and in competition

with his/her environm ent. From an Africentric perspective, the

individual d o e s not view him/herself in conflict with nature or the

environm ent, but a s a part or extension of the environment.

Furtherm ore, Africentric world view may serve to reduce the

s tre ss of conceptual conflict. Conceptual conflict refers to

incompatibilities betw een beliefs or values (Epstein, 1982). Epstein

identifies five basic sou rces of conceptual incompatibility: (1)

incompatibilities betw eeen an individual's beliefs and the occurrence

of even ts inconsistent with those beliefs, (2) incompatibilities

betw een an individual's ideal self and actual self, (3)

incompatibilities betw een different beliefs or values of which the

individual is aw are, (4) incompatibilities betw een beliefs in w hat is

and w hat should be or should have been, and (5) incompatibilities

betw een beliefs a t different levels of aw areness. For African

A m ericans in an oppressive environm ent w here their values, beliefs,

86

and behaviors a re not acknow ledged or accep ted , conceptual conflict

may be the norm. People who a re required to operate or function with

a world view that counters or is alien to o n e 's cultural beliefs may

experience dysfunction an d m aladaptive behaviors which c au se

d istress (Akbar, 1984). W hen confronted with a problem, Eurocentric

world view im poses a competitive, active, individualistic modality

for dealing with th e problem. African A m ericans m ay have been

socialized to consider group priorities. T hus their behaviors may be

viewed an d defined a s pathological, which may have a negative

psychological im pact or individuals may try to behave accordingly and

experience disharm ony betw een them selves and their behaviors.

Africentric world view m ay enable African A m ericans to actualize a

s e n se of balance and harm ony with regard to their behaviors, beliefs,

and values.

In a study by Baldwin, Duncan, and Bell (1987) it w as found that

African American s tuden ts in or from predominantly African

American settings scored higher on Africentric world view than

studen ts in or from predominantly European-Am erican settings.

T hese authors a lso concluded that Africentric world view is an

im portant factor in interpreting differences in psychological

functioning and behaviors am ong African American college studen ts

and the African American sociocultural settings may be facilitative

of healthy African American personality functioning.

In a study by Gibson (1984) significant positive correlations

(.93) w ere found betw een Africentric world view and external

personal causation. S h e defined externality in term s of a

collective-communal orientation which is consisten t with the

communal-holistic principles of Africentric world view.

Fine, Schw ebel, and Myers (1985) explored the adjustm ent and

world view of m iddle-class single parent adult wom en. Results

indicated tha t single m others who advocated a m ore Africentric

world view - defined a s more spiritual, com m unal, interpersonal and

less achievem ent-oriented - than wom en who advocated a Eurocentric

world view, had higher self-esteem , less depression and anxiety, and

w ere m ore satisfied with being m others. The results also indicated

that single parent m others living on their own w ere less well

ad justed than those living in tw o-parent families. This finding that

African American wom en are m ore satisfied being m others than their

White counterparts h as also been noted by Jackson (1973), P eters and

Deford (1978) and S tap les (1976). This study also revealed that

African American w om en from two parent families em erged a s the

m ost Africentric. An explanation for the lack of racial differences

am ong single m others living on their own w as that the significant

s tre ss and difficulties they experienced rendered them less able to

advocate the nonmaterialistic, noncom petitive Africentric belief

system . To explain why subjects who held an Africentric world view

displayed less anxiety, the au thors (Fine, Schw ebel, Myers, 1985)

noted tha t subjects who held an Africentric world view had a more

holistic orientation, w ere more spiritual, had an internal s e n s e of

worth, and w ere m ore optimistic. W hereas the Eurocentric world

view determ ines an individual's worth by external criteria and is

m ore materialistic and competitive (Myers, 1981). Maintaining such a

belief system could lead the single m other to a s e n s e of worth that

could be continually th rea tened by the fact that there a re alw ays

more material goods to acquire and m ore individuals with whom to

com pete, and a s a result may seldom be satisfied with her current

status.

The few studies th a t have been im plem ented provide evidence of

differences in personality and psychological functioning. Africentric

world view, therefore m ay be a factor in the perception of s tre ss and

has the potential to em pow er African American wom en with a coping

skill for reducing stress.

89

Sex-Role Orientation

Sex-role orientation is ano ther belief system which im pacts on

the behaviors and attitudes of individuals. Societal perceptions of

the roles of w om en have undergone m any ch an g es within the p a st two

d ecad es . As a result, the study of sex-roles, the socialization

p rocess, and effects of sex-role stereotyping and/or sexism h as been

a burgeoning a re a of research (Kaplan & Bean, 1976). W here

traditional m odels of sex differences reflected the exclusiveness of

m ale and fem ale qualities, this century has seen a broadening in the

range of prevailing attitudes toward sex roles for men and wom en and

sex-appropriate behavior for boys and girls, and thus alternative

m odels have been developed which propose the coexistence of

feminine and m asculine traits within a single individual (Kaplan &

Bean, 1976). This coexistence of femininity and masculinity is

referred to a s 'androgyny'. 'Andro' is G reek for male and 'gyn' is G reek

for fem ale, thus androgyny refers to the combination of both m ale and

fem ale characteristics.

The concep t of androgyny grew out of the acknow ledgem ent that

differences in the behavior of men and women a re linked to but not

determ ined by physical sex. Traditional conceptualizations of

femininity and masculinity maintained an em phasis upon the

distinctions betw een th e sex es . A dichotom ous view of psychological

attributes w as assu m ed b e ca u se of observed physiological

differences. This linear model of sex differentiation presum ed that

genetic differences, physiological differences, and ultimately

psychological differences som ehow formed a logical progression

(Kaplan & Bean, 1976). Current research indicates that the majority

of observed psychological differences betw een the sex es a re probably

socioculturally determ ined rather than a natural co n seq u en ce of

biologically b ased differences (Cook, 1985; M accoby & Jacklin, 1974).

G ender is the physical structure determ ined by chrom osom es, gonad,

and horm ones. G ender identity is the basic s e n se an individual

develops of being male or female. Psychologists generally ag ree that

a c lear s e n se of physical m aleness or fem aleness is essen tial to

psychological health (Cook, 1985).

The early labeling of physical sex h as a m arked impact on the

child's psychological developm ent. This labeling begins the

sex-typing process, w hereby a person acquires and values the

particular characteristics considered appropriate for her or his sex in

that culture (Mischel, 1970). T hese sex linked attitudes, preferences,

and behaviors that a person learns through the sex-typing p rocess are

sex roles. Sex is innate, but sex roles a re learned (Cook, 1985). The

result of the sex-typing p ro cess is an individual's sex-role identity,

which is th e pattern and level of m asculine and feminine

characteristics adopted and exhibited in som e m anner by a person

(Cook, 1985).

Several theories have been developed to explain how one acquires

his/her sex-role identity. S om e of the more familiar theories are the

identification theory (M ussen, 1969), social learning theory (Mischel,

1970), K agan 's (1964) theory, and cognitive-developm ental theory

(Kohlberg, 1966). Thus the various w ays in which people learn their

sex role a re through rew ards and punishm ents, modeling, social

learning, sex typing, and sex stereotyping. Various com binations of

feminine and m asculine characteristics could presum ably be learned

by a person, but not all com binations have been traditionally

considered to be equally accep tab le for men and w om en. A high level

of m asculine characteristics (instrum ental - aggressive, independent,

logical, competitive) for men and feminine characteristics

(expressive - passive, dependent, nurturant, emotional) for wom en

with the relative exclusion of the other dim ension rep resen ts the

traditional sex-role identities.

Sex stereotyping, which prefers generalizations about categories

of people to discrimination on the basis of infinite individual

variations, rapidly tak es over. So forceful a re sex-typing and

stereotyping in the acquisition of sex-role identification that they

overwhelm predispositions created by biology. By the time a woman

reach es adulthood, sh e has so thoroughly internalized the sex-role

belief system she h as learned that it seem s provided by nature or the

deity. S h e will function according to sex-role concep ts which seem

not only appropriate but inevitable, even if they harm her interests

and her m ental health.

The nature and co n sequences of the masculine/fem inine

distinctions have been a major focus in sex-role reserach . Sex-role

socialization and strict adherence to traditional sex roles of fem ales

puts them in a w orse psychological situation than d o es that of m ales

(Collier, 1984). In studies of sex typing and socialization, for

instance, both Maccoby and M asters (1970) and Mischel (1970)

conclude th a t fem ales are socialized for d ep en d en ce and m ales for

achievem ent and autonomy. Autonomy and self-determ ination, in this

society, a re signs of the mentally healthy person. G ove (1972,1979)

found tha t certain emotional disorders stem from adherence to

sex-role s tereo types after he analyzed sex differences in the

epidem iology of mental disorders. Learned help lessness, exaggerated

femininity, vicarious roles, non-expression of negative feelings, lack

of real power, role strains a re traditional fem ale sex-role traits

which a re said to be associated with mental illness (Brodsky &

Hare-Mustin, 1980; Unger, 1979). Traditional sex roles a re said to

limit occupational options, relationships, and personal potential

(Kaplan & Bean, 1976). Contem porary living requires wom en to be

m ore flexible in their behaviors. O'Neil (1981) stated tha t men and

wom en have each learned only about one-half of the attitudes, skills,

and behaviors necessary to cope effectively in life.

Sex-role Orientation and S tress

A basic assum ption within the androgyny literature is that

departu re from traditional sex-role s tan d ard s carries with it

decisive psychological advan tages for both sex es . R esearch h a s

shown that androgynous people a re m ore creative and flexible and

less anxious than extrem ely m asculine or extrem ely feminine p e rsons

(Bern, 1974; S pence, Helmreich & S tepp, 1975). The concep t of

androgyny is useful b ecau se it su g g es ts a low -stress m ethod of

opening up other categories of behavior and feeling a s options

(Kaplan, 1979; M arecek, 1979). The choice of a particular behavior to

fit a given situation carries a low level of threat to one 's identity,

allowing the individual to utilize a wide range of behaviors without,

engaging in a con test or conflict against sex-typed socialization.

Sargent, (1980) proposed androgyny a s a s tre ss m anagem ent

strategy. A conscious blending of both m asculine and feminine

behaviors perm its people to em brace and exp ress all a sp e c ts of their

individual personalities. The individual who en co m p asses the

characteristics, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that exp ress the

full range of w hat it m eans to be hum an increases his/her personal

effectiveness and thus is better able to handle 1 ife and its s tre sse s .

G oodm an and Kantor (1983) found that androgynous wom en report the

least am ount of social anxiety.

Although research supports the assum ption that androgyny h as

psychological advan tages, not all research support this assum ption.

Som e stud ies show masculinity correlated with emotional stability

(Thom as & Reznikoff, 1984) positive body im age and sexual

satisfaction (Kimlicka, C ross, & Tarnai, 1983) and self e steem (Antill

& Cunningham , 1979; Bern, 1977; Berzins, Welling & W etter, 1978).

Explanations for th e se results have been attributed to the masculinity

sca les ' pow er over the femininity scale. This effect h as been nam ed

the "masculinity suprem acy effect" (Cook, 1985). It is believed that

the reason for this effect is due to the superior social utility value

attributed to masculinity in American society (Yager & Baker, 1979)

and to masculinity's social rewards. Kaplan and S edney (1980) s ta ted

tha t individuals high in masculinity may be responded to by o thers in

a w ay that heightens their self esteem . N evertheless, research

results continue to be inconclusive with psychological adv an tag es

correlated with androgyny or masculinity.

Som e writers (Malson, 1983; McCray, 1980) have s ta ted that

African American w om en traditionally have been less confined to

typical feminine characteristics and behaviors d u e to their unique

historical backround and current status in the U.S. society. For

functional purposes, roles within African American families have

alw ays been m ore flexible and open than those within m ainstream

families. African American wom en have often had to sh are the roles

designated by society a s male roles, ju st a s African American men

have had to sh are som e of the traditionally designated fem ale roles

(Hill, 1972). Harsh social realities have m ade flexibility of role a

necessity for African American families. Their capacity for

combining hom em aker, childrearing, and w orkplace roles have been

attributed to many factors, am ong them, econom ic necessity or

econom ic sta tu s (Willie, 1974); social support (Hill, 1972);

differences in the value of feminine roles (Scanzoni, 1975); and

positive attitudes tow ards traditional and nontraditional sex roles

(Gump, 1975).

In addition, African women historically have been socialized to

be independent and instrumental in the econom ic m arketplace.

However, their m ost important role w as the raising of children which

took priority over their role of wife. It is believed th a t th e se

behaviors and attitudes a re still found am ong African American

w om en today (R odgers-R ose, 1980).

R esearch indicates tha t African American wom en exhibit

traditional (family) a s well a s nontraditional (paid work) role

orientations (Engram, 1980; Gump, 1975) and th a t both roles w ere

equally endorsed (Gump, 1975).

Thus traditional sex-role socialization a s viewed by this society

m ay not have the emotional im pact upon African American wom en and

m en a s it h a s for European-Am erican wom en and men. Gum p (1980)

s ta ted that traditional sex role, a s it is generally understood,

probably d o es not exist for African American w om en. R ather, sex role

ideology in African American wom en attem pts to integrate w hat

traditionally h as been viewed a s mutually exclusive functions.

S tap les (1973) said that African American men who, b ecau se of

illness or disability, a re unable to work suffer less emotional dam age

if the wife h a s to take on the role of provider of the family than do

White men operating within a rigid norm.

N evertheless, due to the majority population's traditional

attitudes and values of the fem ale role, which a re often in opposition

to the reality of African American women, Black wom en have often

been viewed and described negatively. In much of the social science

and popular literature, the African-American wom an has either been

depicted a s the (McCray, 1980) dominating, castrating fem ale under

w hose hand the Black family and the Black community a re falling

apart, or a s the romanticized, strong, self-sufficient fem ale

responsible for the survival of the Black family and of Black people.

Neither view gives a true picture or aids in emotional well-being for

African American wom en and their relationships with African

American m en (McCray, 1980; R odgers-Rose & Rodgers, 1985). Also,

African American wom en holding European-American beliefs

regarding sex roles m ay experience conflicts due to the fact that they

may not be able to implement those beliefs (McCray, 1980). Thus,

African American wom en may not experience s tre ss due to rigid

sexrole socialization, but due to their m ore flexible sex-role

socialization and the pathological explanations for it and/or conflict

in their reality and the value society h as historically p laced upon

traditional sex roles.

In a study by Zeff (1982) sh e found that m ore African American

wom en endorse an androgynous sex-role orientation com pared to

European-Am erican women and Mexican-American w om en. She

concluded that this result may be a function of the multiples roles

African American wom en have historically had. Although African

American wom en endorsed other sex-role orientations, few er

endorsed masculinity in com parison to M exican-American wom en and

European-Am erican women. This may be due to the equal value

African American wom en place on feminine traits and m asculine

traits.

In spite of the more androgynous behavior of African American

wom en and egalitarian behavior of men and wom en in families,

African American wom en tend to exp ress a m ore traditional ideology

about the family and sex roles than do White families (Collier, 1982;

McCray, 1980; Milham & Smith, 1981; M orse & Furst, 1982). Valuing

children is an important a sp ec t of African American culture, and

extension of the caring role h a s been evident throughout their history.

Androgyny may serve to assis t African American wom en to view

their behaviors from a more positive fram e of reference. They need

not have to feel a s though their behaviors are deviant b ecau se they do

not follow rigid traditional fem ale sex roles. They need not have to

experience conflict betw een their situations and the value society

p laces upon traditional sex roles. Furthermore, they need not have to

justify or change their strong maternal attitudes. An androgynous

orientation can enab le African American wom en to feel comfortable

about the flexibility of their roles.

Sum m ary

99

R esearch into the incidence and sou rces of s tre ss am ong African

American wom en h as not been extensive . However, the research that

has been done su g g ests that African American wom en experience

considerable s tre ss due to factors related to their ethnicity, sex and

socioeconom ic levels. O ppressive conditions which African American

wom en encounter continue to plague their emotional well being. More

importantly, recent psychologists have theorized and have begun to

gather evidence about the dysfunction and/or s tre ss African

A m ericans experience a s a result of their own internalized negative

self attitudes. Psychologists have noted the dysfunction which

occurs am ong wom en due to strict adh eren ce to sex roles and

attitudes even w hen they may not be in the b est interest of the

women.

Negative attitudes and im ages do little to improve the

psychological well being of African American women. P rocedures to

reduce s tre ss m ust ad d ress the sociopolitical realities of African

American women. Thus Africentric world view and androgyny are

belief sy stem s which are being exam ined a s possible cognitive

appraisals which can aid in reducing s tress .

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

Introduction

The purpose of this study w as to exam ine the relationships of

world view, sex-role orientation, and perceived levels of s tre ss

am ong em ployed African American women. This chap ter includes the

m ethods and procedures u sed to determ ine the relationships. Included

a re sec tions on the research design, research setting, population and

sam ple, d a ta collection instruments, scoring procedures, and d a ta

analysis procedures.

R esearch Design

This investigation utilized a descriptive research design.

Descriptive research enab les the researcher to determ ine prevailing

conditions tha t exist in the population studied. This study em ployed

the use of questionnaires and self-report m easures. The researcher

m ust be aw are that self-report m easures are subject to distortion

and m isinterpretations by the respondent and that return ra tes are

often low. According to Gay (1981) the following s tep s should be

taken w hen employing this design:

100

1. Select S s from a population by using an appropriate

sampling technique and using subjects who have the desired

information and are likely to be willing to give it.

2. Construct a questionnaire, if one is not already developed, that

contains items that a re directly related to the objectives of the

study.

3. Employ validation of the questionnaire to determ ine if it

m easu res w hat it w as developed to m easure.

4. P repare a cover letter that explains w hat is being asked of the

respondent and which hopefully m otivates the responder to

fulfill the request.

5. If the questionnaire is new, provide a field test of the

questionnaire.

6. Distribute the questionnaire to the subjects.

7. If the percen tage of returns is le ss than 70% em ploy follow-up

activities.

8. The usual approach to dealing with excessive n o n resp o n se is

to try to determ ine if nonresponders w ere different from

responders in som e system atic m anner by randomly selecting

a small subsam ple of nonresponders and interviewing them ,

either in person or by phone.

9. Analyze the d a ta using an appropriate statistical procedure.

Setting

1 0 2

A small midwestern town w as chosen for sampling. The

population of the town w as approximately 29,000 with the church

going population numbering over 20,000 (C ensus of Population &

Housing, 1980). The African American population m ade up 7% (C ensus

of Population & Housing, 1980). However, C ensus figures tend to be

low for non-white populations. About 49% of the residents w ere over

30 y ears of age. Of those over 30 years, 34% w ere over 60 years of

age. About 13% of the families w ere h eaded by fem ales, with 11%

W hite and 34% Black. The b u s in esses provide em ploym ent for

approxim ately 20,000 em ployees. T he m ean income in the community

w as $17,240, with a m ean income of $20,079 for W hites and $14,869

for Blacks. The town has b een been experiencing a decline in

population over the p a s t 10 y ears due to suburbal living and

occupational opportunities in larger cities.

E oon lation .and -Sample

The population for this study consisted of em ployed African

American wom en 20 years of ag e and older who w ere church m em bers

and a ttend church and/or w ere involved in the various activities and

103

organizations of the church, it w as the original intent of the

resea rch er to utilize m em bers of several African American

professional, social, and civic organizations. However, the num ber of

African American m em bers in these organizations w as so few, it w as

decided to utilize wom en who were actively involved in church

activities and church life. Employed wom en 20 years of ag e and older

w ere utilized b ecau se of the likelihood that th e se women would be

involved in multiple roles, i.e. mother, wife, worker.

Data Collection Procedures

A random sampling w as utilized for this study. The rea so n s for

utilizing a random sampling a re a s follows:

1. It provides the best m ethod for obtaining a representative

sam ple.

2. It perm its the researcher to m ake inferences about the

population b a sed on th e behavior of the sam ple.

3. It allows the researcher to estim ate the accuracy of the

sam ple or sampling error.

To obtain the sam ple for this study, ministers of the community's

seven African American churches w ere contacted to explain the

research purpose and to obtain a list of their wom en m em bers and

church organizations. One alphabetical list of all the African

104

American women identified in the sev en churches w as used . The

w om en w ere num bered consecutively from o n e to 205. Utilizing a

table of random num bers (Gay, 1981) 150 w om en w ere selec ted to

receive a packet of questionnaires. Table 1 displays their response

pattern.

Table 1

R esp o n se Pattern of th e Subjects

Number Percen t

R eturned com pleted 75 50%

R eturned not com pleted 11 07%

Total returned 86 57%

Not returned 64 43%

After a brief announcem ent (see Appendix B) to the congregations

concerning the purpose of the research , the packets w ere distributed

to th o se wom en designated in the random sampling. Each packet

contained a letter (see Appendix A) inviting the w om en church

m em bers to participate in the study, a con sen t form (Appendix E), the

four instrum ents utilized in the study (Appendix G, H, I, J), a form for

recording dem ographic information (Appendix F), an d a form to

com plete should one choose not to participate (Appendix C).

Table 2 displays the type of re sp o n ses given by wom en who

returned the questionnaires but did not fill them out. If they ch o se

not to participate in the study, they could com plete a form listing

reaso n s for not participating. Six respondents, or 4% of the total

sam ple of 150 com pleted this form. Since the recipients of the

questionnaires w ere told to check those response item s that applied

to them and since som e did check m ore than one response , the total

re sp o n ses exceed six.

Table 2R esp o n ses of Non Participants

N = 6 Number

Too m any questions 1Q uestions w ere too difficult tounderstandNot enough time 1Could not m ake definite decisions 2about the questionsNot interested in the results 1Do not like to participate in researchstudiesNot interested in having my stress 2evaluatedPersonal illnessO ther

Death of family m em ber 2Not an African American 1

Attempts w ere m ade to reach those who did not return any of the

questionnaires. Twelve persons w ere contacted who gave the

following reaso n s for non-participation:

Too busyToo many questionsQ uestions required too m uch thoughtDo not like to participate in research studies

Do not know how the information will actually be used Do not like opinions and beliefs reduced to a category or num ber

107

Instrumentation

The instrum ents tha t w ere u sed in this study w ere the

State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) (Spielberger, G orsuch &

L ushene,1978, Form Y), the African Self-C onsciousness S ca le (ASCS)

(Baldwin & Bell, 1982), the BEM Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) (Bern,

1974), and the Schedule of R ecent Experience (SRE) (Amundson, Hart,

& Holmes, 1981). The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory w as u sed to

m easu re the level of perceived s ta te and trait anxiety of the subjects.

The African Self-C onsciousness Scale w as used to m easu re the

conscious level expression of Africentric world view. The BEM

Sex-Role Inventory w as u sed to m easure the sex-role orientation of

the subjects. The Schedule of R ecent Experience w as u sed to m easure

life ch an g es and experiences that had occurred am ong the subjects

within the p a st year to determ ine if those ch an g es and/or experiences

w ere a factor in the perceived anxiety of th e individuals. Subjects

w ere also asked to fill out dem ographic d a ta which included type of

work, socioeconom ic sta tus, age, educational level, marital status,

family sta tu s, and w hether or not they had been treated for

hypertension in the p ast year. C opies of th e se instrum ents m ay be

found in A ppendixes F, G, H, I, and J.

108

State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Form Y) (STAI)

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory w as ch osen b ecau se it is the

m ost widely used and m ost extensively researched instrum ent used to

m easu re anxiety. It w as previously m entioned that anxiety gives

m ore information about w hat an individual is experiencing a s

stressful than any other variable in the s tre ss p rocess. In reviewing

the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Katkin (1978, p. 1096) wrote in

the Eighth Mental M easurem ents Yearbook th a t research with the STAI

h as been proliferating to the point w here there is probably m ore

published research on the STAI and more ongoing research now on the

STAI than on any other commercially available anxiety inventory.... the

STAI sca le rep resen ts a relatively efficient, reliable, and valid way

to a s s e s s individual differences in both anxiety-proneness and

phenom enological experience of anxiety in n o rm a l.... populations. It

w as developed a s a research instrum ent for investigating anxiety

phenom ena in normal adults. It com prises sep a ra te self-report sca les

for m easuring two distinct anxiety concepts: s ta te anxiety (A-State)

and trait anxiety (A-Trait). The A-State sca le is com posed of 20

s ta tem en ts tha t evaluate how respondents feel "right now, a t this

moment." The A-Trait scale, also com posed of 20 sta tem en ts,

evaluates how respondents generally feel.

To com plete the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory subjects a re asked

to respond to each item by rating them selves on a four-point scale.

The re sp o n se categories for the A-State sca le are: (1) Not At All; (2)

Som ew hat; (3) M oderately So; and (4) Very Much So. For the A-Trait

sca le they are: (1) Almost Never; (2) Som etim es; (3) Often; and (4)

Almost Always. The wording of som e of the items is such that a

rating of four indicates a high level of anxiety, while for o thers it

indicates a low level of anxiety. Scoring weights a re adjusted

accordingly.

Normative d a ta for Form Y of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

are available for college studen ts, working adults, military recruits,

and high school studen ts (Spielberger e t al., 1970). While the STAI

norm s are not b ased on representative or stratified sam ples, STAI

sco res reported by other investigators for sam ples drawn from

similar populations a re quite com parable (Spielberger e t al., 1970, p.

5).

The norm s for working adults w ere provided in the State-Trait

Anxiety Inventory Manual. They w ere b a sed on a sam ple of 1,838

em ployees of the Federal Aviation Administration (1,387 m ales; 451

fem ales). Although m ost w ere white-collar workers, the sam ple w as

quite he terogeneous with regard to educational level and age.

Em ployees' adm inistrative responsibility ranged from clerical

positions to high levels of supervisory m anagem ent. The m eans,

standard deviations, an d alpha reliabilities of the State-Trait Anxiety

Inventory A -State and A-Trait sca les for the working adults can be

found in Table 3. The A-State and A-Trait sco res w ere similar for

both m ales an d fem ales.

Table 3

M eans, S tandard Deviations, and Alpha Coefficients for Working Adults

Working AdultsM

(1,387)F

(45)

A-StateMean 35.72 35.20SD 10.40 10.61Alpha .93 .93

A-TraitMean 34.89 34.79SD 9.19 9.22Alpha .91 .91

Note: From STAI Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: Self Evaluation Q uestionnaire, by C. Spielberger, R. G orsuch, & R. Lushene, p. 5, Copyright 1978 by Consulting Psychologists P ress, Inc.

Information regarding th e relationship betw een a g e and A-State and

A-Trait is provided also considering that this particular study

includes sub jec ts ag e 20 and above. D ata for the normative sam ple of

working adults w ere divided into th ree groups and subdivided by sex.

The m eans, s tandard deviations, and alpha coefficients for these

groups a re show n in Table 4. The m eans of the m ales and fem ales in

the two younger groups w ere quite similar; the m eans for the oldest

group w ere som ew hat lower than those of the two younger groups and

working fem ales above a g e 50 scored the lowest.

1 1 2

Table 4

M eans, S tandard Deviations, and Alpha Coefficients for Working Adults in Three Age G roups

A ges 19-39 A ges 40-49 A ges 50-69M F M F M F

(446) (210) (559) (135) (382) (106)

A-StateMean 36.54 36.17 35.88 36.03 34.51 32.20SD 10.22 10.96 10.52 11.07 10.34 8.67

Alpha .92 .93 .93 .94 .92 .90

A-TraitMean 35.55 36.15 35.06 35.03 33.86 31.79SD 9.76 9.53 8.88 9.31 8.86 7.78

Alpha .92 .92 .91 .92 .96 .89

Note: From STAI Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: Self Evaluation Q uestionnaire, by C. Spielberger, R. G orsuch, and R. Lushene Copyright 1978 by Consulting Psychologists P ress, Inc.

113

B ecau se so much of the d a ta on the State-Trait Anxiety

Inventory is based on norm s that do not rep resen t subjects from

various cultures, Knight, W aal-M anning and S p ea rs (1983) provided

additional normative data. They a s s e s s e d the m eans and standard

deviations for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory b ased upon a New

Z ealand population w hose ethnic origin w as 97.7% European, 1.5%

Maori, and 0.03% C hinese. Most of the fem ales w ere housew ives. The

m ales w ere production workers, laborers, and m anual workers. M eans

and standard deviations w ere provided for various ag e categories, but

overall, the m ean and standard deviations for m ales and fem ales on

the A -State w ere 30.19, 7.31 and 33.51, 8.61, respectively. For the

A-Trait, they were 33.11, 7.80 and 36.85, 8.89, respectively.

Reliability and Validity of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

T est-re test correlations of the normative sam ple for the A-Trait

sca le w ere high, ranging from .73 to .86 while th o se for the A-State

sca le w ere relatively low, ranging from .16 to .54. The low

correlations for the A-State w ere expected b e ca u se a valid m easure

of A -State should reflect the influence of unique situational facts

existing a t the time of testing.

Given the transitory nature of A-State anxiety, m easu res of

internal consistency such a s the alpha coefficient provide a more

meaningful index of the reliability than test-re test correlations. The

alpha coefficients (K-R 20, C ronbach, 1951) found in T ables 3 and 4

indicate that the internal consistency of both State-Trait Anxiety

Inventory su b sca les is reasonably good and rem ained high over the

entire ag e range.

Further evidence of the internal consistency of the State-Trait

Anxiety Inventory using item -rem ainder correlations for the

normative sam p les w ere high. The m edian A-State item -rem ainder

correlation w as .63 for working adults. The corresponding A-Trait

item -rem ainder correlation w as .56.

In the study by Knight e t al. (1983), high estim ates of reliability

b ased on internal consistency statistics w ere found for all sca les.

Alpha coefficients for the A -State and A-Trait sca les w ere .93 and

.87 respectively. Fem ales sco red higher on both m easu res and sco res

w ere inversely correlated with age, indicating the im portance of

specific and appropriate norm s in assess in g affective s ta tes .

To show evidence of concurrent validity, Form X of the A-Trait

scale w as correlated with o ther trait anxiety m easu res. It w as found

to have correlations of .75, .80, and .52 with the IPAT Anxiety Scale

115

(Cattell & Scheier, 1963), the Taylor (1953) Manifest Anxiety Scale,

and the Affect Adjective Checklist (Zuckerman, 1960), respectively-

this, for a group of 126 college fem ales. For a group of 80 college

m ales, it h a s had correlations of .76, .79, and .58, respectively.

Evidence of construct validity of the A-Trait sca le w as exam ined

in com paring the m ean sco res of neuropsychiatric (NP) patient groups

with normal subject groups (Spielberger e t al., 1978). All but one of

the NP groups had substantially higher A-Trait sco res than the normal

subjects, providing evidence that the STAI discrim inates betw een

norm als and psychiatric patients for whom anxiety is a major

symptom. The m ean A-Trait for the NP groups ranged from 40.32 to

53.43 and for the normal subjects groups 36.15 for fem ales and 33.86

to 35.55 for m ales.

Although som e of the validity m easu res described w ere b a sed on

Form X, the correlations betw een Form X and Form Y a re uniformly

high (Spielberger a t al., 1978).

Brown an d Duren (1988) noted that although evidence indicates

fairly strong empirical support for the construct validity of the STAI,

there is an alm ost com plete ab sen ce of information detailing the

applicability of the concept of sep a ra te sta te and trait anxiety in the

a sse ssm e n t of African Americans. They conducted a study of the

applicability of Spielberger's revised 4-factor m o d e fo f state-trait

anxiety to African Am ericans utilizing a confirmatory factor analytic

approach rather than an exploratory factor analytic approach . Results

show ed that the confirmatory analysis of the 4-factor model did not

account very well for the anxiety of African American responden ts to

the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. However, utilizing an exploratory

factor analytic approach, the results did offer support for the validity

of the state-trait anxiety distinction p roposed by Spielberger (1966)

and confirms the hypothesis that the distinction is applicable to the

resp o n ses of African A m ericans to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.

T hese findings su g g est that interpretation of the resp o n ses of

African Am ericans to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory using the

state-trait distinction is w arranted. But the 4-factor model, m ay not

accurately account for the STAI resp o n ses of African A m ericans.

African Self-C onsciousness S cale (ASC Scale)

To develop valid and reliable a sse ssm e n t instrum ents, m easuring

Africentric world view, culturally based conceptual paradigm s m ust

p recede such activities. With the contem porary evolution of the

African/Black psychology m ovem ent (Baldwin, 1981,1984; Guthrie,

1980; Nobles, 1980; White, 1980) h a s com e the developm ent of the

necessary conceptual paradigm s to support the developm ent of

culturally specific psychological instrum ents for African Am ericans

(Baldwin, 1981, 1984; Williams, 1972; Wright & Isenstein, 1977).

The African Self-C onsciousness Scale (ASC) developed by Baldwin

(1981) w as chosen to u se in this study b ecau se of its a s se ssm e n t of

specific com petency and expressive dim ensions that reflect

Africentric world view and its report of research em ployed beyond

Baldwin's preliminary research that provides high reliability and

validity figures. The ASC is a 42-item personality questionnaire

designed to a s s e s s the Black personality construct of African

Self-C onsciousness (ASC). African Self-C onsciousness, the core

com ponent of the Black personality (Baldwin, 1981), rep resen ts the

conscious level expression of th e "oneness of being” a com m unal

phenom enology which characterizes the fundam ental self-extension

orientation of African people. While it is partly bio-genetically

determ ined, it is also subject to social-environm ental influences a s

well. W hen this core system of the Black personality is nurtured

developm ental^ a s well a s situationally through indigenous personal

and institutional support system s, it ach ieves vigorous and full

expression in term s of a congruent pattern of basic traits (beliefs,

attitudes, and behaviors) which affirm African American life and the

authenticity of its African cultural heritage (Baldwin & Bell, 1985).

The 42 items w ere se lec ted from an original pool of

approximately 130 items. The final selections of the items w ere

b ased on the system atic ratings of five expert judges (psychologists)

know ledgeable of the ASC construct. The original pool of item s were

rated by the judges according to how well they reflected the m eaning

of the ASC construct. T h ese items w ere also rated in term s of four

com petency dim ensions:

(1) aw areness/recognition of one’s African identity and

heritage;

(2) general ideological and activity priorities p laced on Black

survival, liberation and proactive/affirmative

developm ent;

(3) specific activity priorities p laced on self-knowledge and

self-affirmation, i.e., Africentric values, custom s,

institutions, etc;

(4) a posture of resolute resistance toward "anti-Black"

forces and th rea ts to Black survival in general

and six m anifest or expressive dim ensions:

believed to be relevant to important a sp ec ts of African American life

and survival requirem ents. The final 42 items selec ted received the

h ighest ratings b a sed on their reflecting the m eaning of the ASC

construct. The com petency and m anifest dim ensions reflected in each

item w ere determ ined by majority agreem ent am ong th e judges.

(1) education

(2) family

(3) religion

(4) cultural activities

(5) interpersonal relations

(6) political orientation

The ASC Scale items alternate from negative skewing toward

African Self-C onsciousness to positive skewing tow ards African

Self-C onsciousness. Odd num bered items a re negatively skew ed or

weighted for the ASC construct, while even num bered items are

positively skew ed for the ASC construct. Subjects a re asked to

respond to a four point scaling system . The categories of re sp o n ses

a re Strongly D isagree = 1-2; D isagree = 3-4; A gree = 5-6; Strongly

Agree = 7-8. The total ASC Scale score can be com puted a s either the

sum of the sco res or a s the m ean of the sco res (sum of

scores/num ber of items). The ASC Scale can be adm inistered in about

20 minutes.

BetiabilitV-and-Validitv of the ASC Scale

A reliability estim ate for the ASC Scale w as obtained by using

the test-re test method. A sam ple of 109 Black college students, of

which 58% w ere fem ales, and w ere enrolled in general psychology

c la sse s at Florida Agriculture and M echanical University w ere

adm inistered the ASC S cale on two sep ara te occasions, six w eeks

apart. The item s were randomly reordered on the second

administration to control for practice and order effects. Positive and

negative skew ed items w ere randomly reordered separate ly on the

second administration. Sum m ary sco res w ere com puted for the first

and seco n d adm inistrations using the Pearson product m om ent

correlation coefficient. A reliability coefficient of r (107) = .90,

p<.001 w as generated . This significant positive coefficient

d em onstra tes that ASC S cale sco res m aintained a very high deg ree of

stability over a six-week period.

An estim ate of the internal validity of the ASC Scale w as

obtained by utilizing d a ta from the first administration of the ASC

Scale, noted above concerning the reliability procedure. The

twenty-five subjects who obtained the highest ASC S cale sco res and

the 25 subjects who obtained the lowest ASC S cale sco res were

selec ted for internal validity analysis. The three psychology

instructors of the three general psychology c la sse s comprising the

original 109 subjects rated this se lec t sam ple of 50 sub jec ts on an

ASC checklist. The ASC check-list consisted of a list of 10

attributes and behaviors reflecting the African Self-C onsciousness

construct, developed by the authors. T hese attributes and behaviors

a re (1) ca re s about Black people in general, (2) h a s high respect for

him /herself a s a Black person, (3) m akes s ta tem en ts frequently that

a re positive about Black people, (4) takes a definite position against

White racism, (5) show s a general respect for Black life, (6) has a

strong Black personality, (7) a ttacks or challenges anti-Black issues,

(8) ten d s toward defending Black integrity, (9) supports pro-Black

issues, and (10) holds a strong positive attitude toward Blacks. The

ratings varied from 1 to 5 points according to the following schem e: 1

= neutral/undecided, 2 = w eak characteristic, 3 = m oderate

characteristic, 4 = strong characteristic, 5 = very strong

characteristic.

The P earson product-m om ent coefficient w as com puted betw een

th e se subjects ' m ean ASC Scale sco res and their m ean check-list

ratings by their instructors. This analysis gen era ted a significant

positive coefficient of r (48) = .70, p < .001.

In ano ther te s t of the internal validity of the ASC Scale, the sca le

w as adm inistered along with the Williams' Black Personality

Q uestionnaire (BPQ) (Williams, 1981) to a sam ple of 70 African

American s tuden ts enrolled in general psychology c la sse s a t Florida A

& M University. The BPQ a s s e s s e s Black consc iousness which is

described a s a similar phenom ena to the African Self-C onsciousness

concept. The P earson coefficient w as com puted betw een the ASC

S cale sum s and the BPQ score sum s. This analysis g enera ted a

significant positive coefficient of r (68) = .68, p < .001 which

supports tha t internal validity of the ASC Scale.

In a study by G ibson (1984) the ASC Scale and the Africentric l-E

w as adm inistered to 50 African American college studen ts. The

Africentric l-E is an instrum ent designed to a s s e s s locus of control

with externality defined in term s of collective efficacy and corporate

responsibility consisten t with the communal-holistic principles of

African world view. Gibson found a significant positive correlation (r

= .93, p<.001) betw een ASC S cale sco res and the Africentric l-E

scores. Those s tuden ts who obtained higher ASC sca le sco res also

tended to be m ore externally (collective-communal) oriented.

In a study by Baldwin, Duncan & Bell (1987), it w as concluded that

the African self-consciousness construct ap p eared to be an important

factor in explaining differences in psychological functioning and

behavior am ong African American studen ts in different sociocultural

settings and that African American sociocultural settings and

pro-Black experiential em p h ases a re probably facilitative of healthy

African American personality functioning. The relationship betw een

social cultural setting and background characteristics to the ASC

S cale w as m easured by the ASC Scale and a background questionnaire

developed by the researchers. Variables included in the background

questionnaire w ere sex, marital status, educational level, num ber of

Black S tudies courses, college major, p lace of birth, family size,

family type, childhood region reared in, childhood com m unity's racial

composition, childhood school's racial com position, birthplace of

parents, race of parents, occupation of paren ts, educational level of

parents, childhood region parents w ere reared in, and type of region

parents w ere reared in.

The ASC S cale and the background questionnaire w ere

adm inistered to 250 African American college s tuden ts from Florida

A & M University (FAMU), a predominantly Black College and Florida

S ta te University (FSU), a predominantly White college who w ere

enrolled in introductory psychology cou rses. The results of the study

revealed that (1) FAMU studen ts obtained significantly higher ASC

S cale sco res than FSU studen ts, (2) older s tuden ts obtained

significantly higher ASC sco res than younger students; (3) upper level

studen ts obtained higher ASC S cale sco res than lower level students,

and this effect w as more pronounced for FAMU studen ts than for FSU

students, (4) studen ts with Black S tudies background obtained higher

ASC S cale sco res than did studen ts without this experience,

especially for the FSU students; (5) FAMU studen ts with all-Black

elem entary school backgrounds obtained higher ASC S cale sco res than

did the other students.

The BEM Sex-R ole Inventory (BSRI)

The Bern Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) (1981) is the m ost widely

used androgyny m easure (Cook, 1985). It w as chosen to u se in this

study b e ca u se of its extensive u se and its evidence of being an

accura te m easu re of sexrole attitudes. The BSRI separa te ly a s s e s s e s

psychological femininity, masculinity, and androgyny. Masculinity and

femininity a re conceptualized a s two independent d im ensions rather

than a s two e n d s of a s in g le dimension, thereby enabling a person to

indicate w hether sh e or he is high on both dim ensions (androgynous)

or low on both dim ensions (undifferentiated), or high on one

dim ension but low on the other (either feminine or m ascu lin e ).

R espondents are asked to rate them selves on 20 stereotypically

feminine traits, on 20 stereotypically m asculine traits, and on 20

filler items. The m asculine and feminine traits w ere selec ted on the

basis of cultural definitions of sex-typed social desirability.

R espondents indicate on a 7-point scale how well each of the 60

characteristics describes them selves. The scale ran g es from 1

(Never or alm ost never true) to 7 (Always or alm ost alw ays true).

The Normative d a ta is b ased upon a 1973 sam ple of 279 fem ales and

444 m ales, and a 1978 sam ple of 340 fem ale and 476 m ale Stanford

University undergraduates. Additional normative d a ta are provided

for small sam ples of non-Stanford Black undergraduates, White

undergraduates, Hispanic undergraduates, psychiatric inpatients, an d

several sam ples in age categories different from the typical

undergraduate.

Norms for groups of individuals in ag e ca tegories different from

the typical undergraduate w ere considered in this study. Normative

d a ta is provided for individuals a g e s 20-30 and adults 31-65. The

m ean feminine and m asculine sco res for each ag e category a re 5.01,

4.51 and 5.11, 4.57, respectively.

Reliability and Validity of the BEM Sex-Role Inventory

Psychometrically, the BSRI displays good internal consistency

and reliability. To exam ine internal consistency, a lpha coefficients

w ere com puted separately for fem ales and m ales for the femininity

score, the masculinity score, and the femininity-minus-masculinity

(F-M) difference score for the 1973 and 1978 normative sam ple. BEM

reports the following coefficient a lphas for 1973 and 1978 sam ples,

respectively: fem ales - .75,.78 for the Femininity sca le and .87,.86

for the Masculinity scale; m ales -.78,.78 for the Femininity S cale and

.86,.87 for the Masculinity scale.

The BSRI has dem onstrated high test-re test reliability, also. The

1973 Stanford sam ple w as te sted approximately four w eeks after the

first test. Product-m om ent correlations w ere com puted betw een the

first and second adm inistrations yielding sco res of .76 and above. For

m ales the femininity, masculinity, F-M sco res w ere a s follows: .89,

.76, .86, respectively. S cores for fem ales w ere .82, .94, and .88,

respectively.

Wilson and Cook (1984) determ ined the range of the hom ogeneity

reliabilities across several masculinity and femininity m easu res

(Personal Attributes Q uestionnaire, S pence, Helmreich, & Stapp,

1974; ANDRO Scale, Berzins, Welling, & W etter,1978; Adjective

Checklist, Gough & Heilbrun, 1965; California Psychologial Inventory,

G ough,1957; Sex-Role Behavior Scale, Orlofsky, R am sden, Cohen,

1982) to be from .62 to .88, with a median of .79. Coefficients for

the BSRI w ere .88 for the m asculine sca le and .78 for the feminine

scale.

Validation studies suggest that the BSRI femininity and/or

masculinity sca le s are correlated with gender-related behaviors. In

one study (Bern & Lenney, 1976), undergraduate subjects w ere ask ed

to indicate which of a series of paired activities they preferred to

perform for pay while being photographed. Sex-typed sub jects w ere

significantly m ore likely than androgynous or cross-sex-typed

subjects to prefer sex-appropriate activity and to resist

sex-inappropriate activity, even w hen such choices cost them money.

The concept of femininity and masculinity a s two independent

dim ensions w as empirically exam ined with the normative sam ples.

The Femininity and Masculinity sca le s proved to be virtually

uncorrelated. Correlations betw een femininity and masculinity

sco res for the 1973 and 1978 undergraduates w ere -.14 an d .00 for

fem ales and .11 and -.05 for m ales, respectively.

A factor analysis (Bledsoe, 1983) of re sp o n ses from 44 White

fem ale teach e rs to the 40-item BSRI yielded two factors, Masculinity

and Femininity, accounting for 20.7% and 16.2%, respectively, of the

com m on variance. Each teach er rated herself on the 60 item s of the

BSRI. An analysis of item -scale hom ogeneity of the 40 items

comprising the Masculine and Feminine sca le s , consisting of

correlations of each item with each of the two sca les corrected for

overlap, gave a clear pattern for m ost of the items. Of the 40 items,

28 su g g ested sound construct validity for the total sca les. Twelve

adjectives and ph rases (ambitious, willing to take risks, cheerful,

flatterable, loyal, gullible, d o es not u se harsh language, yielding, shy,

childlike, m asculine) w ere not perceived a s a sso c ia ted with

m asculine or feminine roles, suggesting tha t perceptions of

traditional sex roles a re changing.

Taylor and Hall (1982) provided a m eta-analysis of stud ies which

have investigated the relationship betw een a s s e s s e d femininity,

masculinity, and m ale-typed and fem ale-typed d ependen t m easu res.

The analysis revealed that masculinity related positively to the

m ale-typed d ependen t m easu res in 93% of the analyses. Femininity

show ed an alm ost even num ber of positive and negative relationships

to the m ale-typed criterion variables (56% to 44%). Femininity

tended to relate positively to achievem ent an d to achievem ent values

and negatively to dom inance and aggression and to o ther m easu res,

suggesting w eaker m asculine sex-typing of achievem ent-related

variables. T hese d a ta provide strong support for the construct

validity of the masculinity sca le (Taylor & H a11,1982). Femininity

w as positively asso c ia ted with fem ale-typed d ep en d en t m easu res in

80% of the an aly ses and the masculinity sca le show ed expected

inconsistent patterns of relationships with th e se m easu res (47%

positive to 53% negative).

Not many studies have investigated the use of the BEM with

African American w om en. However, Jackson (1982) exam ined

militancy and African American w om en's competitive behavior in

competitive and noncompetitive conditions. Subjects w ere 100 single

African American fem ale D ouglass College underg raduates betw een

the a g e s of 18 and 30. R esults indicated that low militant wom en

w ere m ore affected by w hether the situation w as competitive or

non-competitive than high militant women. In the non-com petitive

situation, low militant wom en had a m ean of 45.2, while in the

competitive situations, they had an averag e m ean of 72.5. W hereas,

high militant wom en had a m ean of 71.7 in the non-competitive

situation and an average m ean of 79 in the competitive situations.

R esults also indicated that low militant wom en had higher androgyny

sco res than high militants, indicating that low militants, in

com parison with high militants, endo rsed m ore femininity item s

relative to masculinity items. High militant wom en had higher

m asculine sco res, the m ore positively valued sex-role stereo type in

U.S. culture. High militancy is assoc iated with behaviors that a re

m ore similar to this society 's "masculine" stereotype. Although this

w as not a validation study, it provided a study of the use of the BEM

with a population of African American w om en and indicated that high

militants endorsed masculinity.

In ano ther study (Zeff, 1982) utilizing the BEM Sex-role

Inventory with African American subjects, it w as found that social

c lass w as m ore influential than ethnicity/race in determ ining

sex-role behavior of women. Zeff's study (1982) exam ined

com paratively how 279 Mexican-American, African American, and

European-Am erican middle c lass college fem ale freshm en perceived

them selves according to the Bern sex-role categories. African

American wom en w ere found to be m ore androgynous than

Mexican-American and European-Am erican w om en. Zeff concluded

that this may be a function of roles African American w om en have

historically played, assum ing both m asculine and feminine

characteristics, depending on the situation. European-Am erican

w om en w ere found to be more m asculine than Mexican-American

wom en and Mexican-American women w ere found to be m ore

m asculine than African American women. Zeff (1982) s ta ted that

European-Am erican m iddle-class wom en a re identifying m ore with

Feminism and the finding that they are m ore m asculine an d assertive

is congruent with the literature concerning m iddle-class

European-Am erican women. Mexican-American and African American

wom en do not identify with the W om en's M ovement to the sam e deg ree

a s European-Am erican women. Overall, the g rea tes t percen tage of

subjects in each ethnic group w as androgynous and, according to Zeff

(1982), w as said that this finding may be a function of the

m iddle-class college sam ple since college studen ts a re achievers and

have had to be flexible and adaptive to reach that level.

Schedule of R ecent Experience

Among African Americans, it is fairly well docum ented that a

sizable num ber encounter stressful life conditions and circum stances

that are potentially detrim ental to their physical and mental health

(Brown & Gary, 1987). The Schedule of R ecent Experience (SRE) w as

adm inistered to obtain information about life ch an g es and/or

experiences the subjects ' m ay have encountered within the p ast year

to determ ine if th e se life ch an g es and/or experiences w ere factors in

the results of the study. The Schedule of R ecent Experience is a

paper-and-pencil questionnaire which elicits information about the

occurrence of particular even ts - 42 life even ts - in an individual's

recen t life experience. It is designed for collecting quantitative and

qualitative d a ta abou t people 's life-style and history, and thus se rv es

a s a standardized form for organizing such d a ta in research . The 42

life events generally refer to ordinary, though som etim es

131

extraordinary, social and interpersonal transactions and major a re a s

of dynam ic significance in the social structure: family constellation,

m arriage, occupation, econom ics, residence, p eer relations, education,

religion, recreation, and health. To com plete the instrument, subjects

a re asked to record the num ber of tim es each even t occurred in

specified time periods. The form used in this study asked the

responden ts to record the num ber of tim es each even t occurred in the

p ast 12 m onths preceeding the administration of the instrument.

Amundson, Hart & Holmes (1981) sta ted tha t the developm ent of

this instrum ent h a s evolved from the "life chart" of M eyer over a

period of th ree d e c a d e s beginning in 1949. In its early applications,

the SRE d a ta w ere used to tally the total num ber or frequency of life

events experienced by the client. T hese d a ta show ed clearly that

m any d ise a se s had their onset in a setting of mounting social change.

In an a ttem pt to ad d precision to the m easurem ent, the Social

R eadjustm ent Rating Scale (SRRS) w as developed. A particular

m agnitude w as assigned to each life event item by estim ating the

am ount of change and readjustm ent associated with each of the

events, relative to M arriage. The values of the SR R S (also called the

Social R eadjustm ent Rating Q uestionnaire - SRRQ) a re u sed to weight

the relative impact of the Schedule of R ecent Experience (SRE) events.

The scoring p rocess for the Schedule of R ecent Experience com es

from the Social Readjustm ent Rating Q uestionnaire. To com pute the

life change score for the specified time period, in Life C hange Units

(LCU), it is necessary to calculate it a s a weighted item frequency:

LCU = (Item frequency x Scale value). R esearch using the S chedule of

R ecen t Experience su g g ests that the more life ch ange that occurs the

g rea ter the likelihood of illness. To evaluate the LCU score for the

previous year, the following criteria have been established:

1. O ver 300 LCU = 80 percen t chan ce of illness in the near

future.

2 .15 0 -2 9 9 LCU = 50 percen t chance of illness in the near

future.

3. Less than 150 LCU = 30 percent ch an ce of illness in the near

future.

A general finding is that individuals from the lower social c lass

ap p ea r to have m ore life changes than m iddle-class individuals, with

the form er reporting proportionally more socially undesirable even ts

(Caplovitz, 1963; Dohrenwend, 1973 ,1970 ; G ersten e ta l.,1 9 7 7 ;

Hollingshead & Redlich, 1958).

As a result of the developm ent of the Schedule of R ecent

Experience, it is possible to investigate system atically w hether

people who have experienced m ore num erous and/or serious recen t

change might be m ore vulnerable to illness. The assum ption here is

that w hen people 's lives are in a relatively s teady s ta te of

psychosocial adjustm ent with little s tre ss and few life chan g es , less

illness will be found and vice versa. With African American wom en

being m ore frequently situated in lower social c la sse s (R odgers-R ose,

1980) an d the relationship betw een both social c lass and life ch an g es

and ch an g e and illness, the Schedule of R ecen t Experience w as used

this study to control for life even ts tha t may contribute to subjects '

anxiety levels.

BeliabiIitv_ and_Validitv of the Schedule of R ecent Experience

Developed in a tuberculosis sanatorium , the Schedule of R ecent

Experience (SRE) w as cross-validated on two sam ples totaling 165

adm issions, p retested for readability and clarity, with the maximal

validity being estab lished a s lying in the ag e range from 25 to 55

years. A reliability coefficient of 0.831 w as obtained betw een first

and second adm inistrations of the form a t five-month intervals in a

group of newly adm itted White patients (age 25-60) with pulmonary

tuberculosis (Hawkins, Davies, & Holmes, 1957).

In a study by C asey, M asuda, and Holm es (1967) 54 resident

physicians com pleted the ten-year SR E a t two sep a ra te

adm inistrations, sp aced nine m onths apart. For the period of time

eight y ears prior the first SRE administration, the correlation

betw een consecutive reports w as 0.67 (p = 0.0005). For the period

five y ears prior to the initial SRE, the correlation w as 0.74 (p =

0.0005). M ean total LCU sco res indicated that significantly less

material w as recalled for the m ore distant time periods included in

the SRE. Further exam ination of the individual events on SRE show ed

a highly significant relation betw een the values of the events and the

percen tage of consisten t resp o n ses ( r ). The more salient life even ts

w ere m ost consistently recalled.

A num ber of studies have found reliability estim ates of the

Schedule of R ecent Experience to vary from a s high a s .90 to a s low a s

.26 (C asey, M asuda, & Holmes, 1967; McDonald, Pugh, G underson, &

R ahe, 1972; Thurlow, 1971). In reviewing th e se studies, R ahe (1974)

writes:

This dram atic falloff in reliability seem s to be related primarily to (1) th e time interval betw een adm inistrations of the questionnaire, (2) the education level, and probable intelligence, of the subjects, (3) the time interval over which subjects ' recent life ch an g es are sum m ed, (4) the wording and form at of th e various life even t questions, and (5) the intercorrelations betw een various life change events. W hen the time interval betw een questionnaire administration w as two w eeks, the test-re test correlation w as .90; w hen the interval w as eight months, the correlations ranged betw een .64 and .74; a ten-m onth interval gave correlations betw een .52 and .61; a two-year

135

interval gave a correlation of .26. H ighest correlations w ere obtained from graduate s tuden ts in psychology (.90) and physicians (.64 to .74). Interm ediate correlations w ere obtained from military enlisted men (.55 to .61). The extrem ely low correlation of .26 w as obtained from brewery workers. W hen subjects reported life ch an g es for yearly rather than six-month intervals, reliability increased. Q uestions with modifiers in them (e.g., "major" or "a lot more") and questions with intricate form ats w ere less reliably answ ered than those without qualifiers and those m ore simply presented . Finally, since many of the life-change questions proved to be highly intercorrelated, test-re test reliability w as seen to b e en hanced by handling the questions by interrelated clusters rather than by LCU score, (p. 83)

A five-year SRE w as adm inistered to two sam ples of respondents

in a study conducted by Thurlow (1971). O ne sam ple of 21 college

students, m ean age 27 years, com pleted the SR E twice, with a two

w eek interval betw een the adm inistrations. The test-re test

reliability w as highly significant (r = 0.78, p = 0.0005). T he other

sam ple of 111 brewery em ployees, m ean ag e 46 years, com pleted the

SR E twice, with a two year interval betw een adm inistrations. For the

three years included in both adm inistrations, there w as significant

concordance betw een reports for only the m ost recent y ear (r = 0.34,

p = 0.01). C onsistency of recall dropped dramatically in the four and

five year reports but objective ch an g es w ere ra ted m ore consistently

than subjective ones.

136

Procedures for Scoring Instrum ents

Prior to obtaining any statistical analyses, scoring and

categorization p rocedures w ere evaluated and determ ined with regard

to two of the instrum ents; the Bern Sex-role Inventory and the

African Self-C onsciousness Scale. Both of th ese instrum ents permit

various m ethods of scoring and/or categorization of subjects.

Bern Sex-role Inventory

Bern (1981) described in the Bern Sex-Role Inventory

categorizing subjects into the four sex roles (androgynous-A,

masculine-M , feminine-F, undifferentiated-U) using the split median

m ethod. Bern sugg ested that researchers may u se their own sam ples

to obtain the m edians of the feminine and m asculine sco res for

categorizing subjects into the four sex roles. Few studies using the

Bern Sex-Role Inventory with African American subjects have been

im plem ented, thus normative data on this population is sparce . The

m anual d oes provide normative da ta (m eans, s tandard deviations, and

T-scores) for an African American undergraduate population and

normative d a ta (m eans, s tandard deviations, and T-scores) for two

adult populations (ages 20-30; ag es 31-65). M edians for th e se

populations w ere not provided, however, Bern d o es provide m edians

for the feminine and m asculine sco res of the original normative

sam ple of Stanford students. Which m edians to utilize is a m atter of

judgem ent for the investigator (Bern, 1981). In making a decision a s

w hether to use m edians of the normative sam ple (4.90 - Fern, raw

score; 4 .95 - Mas. raw score) or m edians of the sam ple being

investigated (5.27 - Fern, raw score; 4.69 - M as. raw score), the

subjects w ere categorized using both se ts of m edians. Table 5

show s the num ber of subjects falling into each category using both

se ts of m edians.

Table 5Sexrole Categorization of Sam ple B ased On

Two S e ts of M edians

N um ber of Subjects inEach Sex-role C ategory

F A M U

M edians U sedNormative Sam ple Sam ple Investigated

32 20 8 1416 22 17 20

138

Figures 6 and 7 show s how the subjects shifted with the change

in the m edians used .

Out of 32

^ \ \ 16 5 2 9

F A M U

S ex ro le C a te g o r ie s B ased On B ern 's M edians

R e s u lts of S u b je c t 's C a te g o r ie s B ased on R e s e a rc h e r 's M edians

Out of 8 M's

F'sM Out of 21 A 's

17 4A M

Out of 14 U's

1 1U

3M

Figure 6

Shift of the Sexrole C ategories B ased on Different S e ts of M edians

139

8M 17A4A4 .9 5

4 .6 9MasMdns.

3U

16F

4 .90 5 .2 7Fern Mdns.

S a m p l e I n v e s t i g a t e d — N o r m a t i v e S a m p l e -

Figure 7

Diagram of the Shift of Sex-role C ategories B ased on Different S e ts of M edians

As can be observed from Table 5 and Figures 6 an d 7, the use of

different se ts of m edians did result in categorization differences.

Twenty th ree subjects shifted into other categories. Utilization of

the m edians of the sam ple being investigated allowed for the num ber

140

of the sub jects to fall into the categories m ore equally. Fewer

subjects in the feminine category w as obtained from utilizing the

researcher's m edians. A decision w as m ade to utilize the m edians of

the sam ple investigated in this study due to the following reasons:

(1) There is a lack of norm ative da ta on the adult African

American fem ale population.

(2) Better statistical analy ses can be obtained w hen the

num ber of sub jects in each category is more e q u a l .

African Self-C onsciousness Scale

Baldwin h as su g g ested (1987) that sco res on the Africentric

sca le can be divided into two categories. T hose subjects having m ean

sco res of 5.00 and above a re categorized a s high Africentric, while

those sub jects having m ean sco res of 4.99 and below are categorized

a s low Africentric. Baldwin (1985) has also categorized subjects by

using on e standard deviation above and below the m ean for the high

and low Africentric groups. Results of subjects ' sco res on the

African Self-C onsciousness Scale called for consideration of which

categorization procedure to use. The m ean and standard deviation of

subjects ' sco res a re shown in Table 6. The range of the sco res w as

from 3.66 to 7.47, r=3.80. The 7.47 score w as an extrem e score in

com parison to the o ther sco res . Excluding that one score, the range

w as from 3.66 to 6.47, r=2.81.

141

Table 6

Mean and S tandard Deviation of the African Self-C onsciousness Scale

Mean SD

Africentric S cale 4.98 .58

Not much variability occurred on this m easure , a s m any of the

sco res clustered around the division point betw een the high and low

categories. T he question a ro se a s to w hether distinctions could be

m ade betw een high Africentric individuals and low Africentric

individuals. The potential for variability on this instrum ent w as from

a sco re of 2 to a score of 8 with a range of 6. In a study by Baldwin

and Bell (1987), a range from 3.7 to 7.9, r=4.2 w as obtained. Thus,

the variability of sco res in this sam ple w as sm aller by com parison.

Due to the sm aller variability of sco res and the large num ber of

sub jects w hose sco res fell betw een one standard deviation above and

below the m ean, a decision w as m ade to divide the groups according

to Baldwin's su g g es ted division point. Using 5.00 and 4.99 a s the

points of division, 36 subjects w ere categorized a s high Africentric

with a m ean of 5.46, while 39 subjects w ere categorized a s low

Africentric with a m ean of 4.58.

Analysis, pf_tli e.D-ata

This study w as designed to exam ine the relationship am ong

world view, sex-role orientation, and perceived levels of anxiety

am ong em ployed African American wom en. The variables in this

analysis consisted of the following:

(a) Two independent variables - Africentricity

having two levels - high and low, a s m easured by the

African Self-C onsciousness S cale and sexrole orientation

having four levels - feminine, m asculine, androgynous,

and undifferentiated, a s m easured by the BEM Sex-Role

Inventory.

(b) Two dependen t variables - s tre ss - A-State

scores and A-Trait sco res a s m easured by the State-Trait

Anxiety Inventory.

Two research questions w ere form ulated for this study. For the

first question, it w as hypothesized that subjects with a high

Africentric world view would evidence less anxiety than subjects

with a low Africentric world view. To te s t this hypothesis, d a ta

w ere analyzed using a t-test, significant a t the <.05 level. The t-test

permits the com parison of the differences betw een the m eans of two

sam ples a s they relate to another variable. In addition, a plot w as

observed for the ex istence of any visible relationship betw een the

two variables. The P earson product m om ent correlation w as

perform ed to substan tia te da ta observed from the plot.

For the second question, it w as hypothesized that sub jects with

an androgynous sex-role orientation would evidence le ss anxiety than

subjects without an androgynous sex-role orientation. To te s t this

hypothesis, d a ta w ere analyzed using analysis of variance and a post

hoc te s t (D uncan's range). The analysis of variance yields a m ore

sensitive or powerful te st than t-tests w hen multiple levels of a

variable a re employed (Gay, 1981). A post hoc test perm its

statistical evaluation of th e nature of any statistical differences

that may result.

R elated findings utilizing dem ographic d a ta w ere analyzed using

the Pearson product m om ent correlation, t-tests, ANOVA, and the

chi-square statistical procedure. The chi-square statistical

procedure w as u sed in the perform ance of a c ro ss tabulation betw een

the d ep en d en t and independent variables and dem ographic data.

Independence or nonindependence of the categories w ere exam ined.

D ata w ere analyzed through SAS and S P S S com puter package

program s.

Sum m ary

This chap ter began with a discussion of the research design for

this study followed by a discussion of the study 's setting, population

and sam ple. A discussion of instrum entation and the reliability and

validity of the instrum ents w as also included. The chap ter concluded

with information regarding scoring p rocedures and d a ta analysis

procedures.

CHAPTER IV

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS O F THE DATA

Introduction

The purpose of this study w as to exam ine the relationships of

world view, sex-role orientation, and perceived levels of s tre ss of

African American women. Specifically, the study proposed to answ er

the following research questions:

1. Do African American wom en reporting a high Africentric

world view, evidence less anxiety a s m easured by the

A-State and A-Trait S ca les of the State-Trait Anxiety

Inventory, than th ose who report a low Africentric world

view?

2. Do African American wom en reporting an androgynous

sex-role orientation, evidence less anxiety than wom en

who do not report an androgynous sex-role orientation?

The null hypotheses for th ese concerns are a s follows:

No significant differences will be observed on the A-State

and A-Trait anxiety sco res for African American w om en

scoring high and those scoring low on the Africentric scale.

145

148

Table 8 contains information which show s that 30.7% have had

only a high school education, while 22.7% have had a t least one or two

years of college. Including th ose who did not com plete high school

and th ose who attended a trade school, 64% of the sam ple do not have

college deg ree status. Thirty-six percen t of the sam ple have obtained

college d eg rees , which includes the 12% having asso c ia te d eg rees. Of

the 36% , eight percent have obtained g raduate deg rees .

Table 8

Education Level of Subjects

Educational Level N %

Less than high school 4 5.3%High school 23 30.7%O ne year of college 14 18.7%A ssociate deg ree 9 12.0%Two years of college 3 4.0%B achelors deg ree 12 16.0%M asters deg ree 2 2.7%M asters d eg ree plus 4 5.3%PhD 0 0.0%T rade school 4 5.3%

N=75

147

T ables 7-12 contain information regarding the subjects '

socioeconom ic status, educational level, age, marital s ta tu s, num ber

of children, num ber of children still living a t hom e, and treatm ent for

hypertension within the year prior to this study.

As can be seen in Table 7, 70.6% of the sub jects earn $20,000 or

less, with 21.3% earning betw een $10,000-$15,000. T hese figures

are consisten t with the average income for African Am ericans in this

community a s stipulated by the C en su s of Population and Housing

(1980).

Table 7

Socioeconom ic S tatus of Subjects

Socioeconom ic S ta tus N %

Under 5000 13 17.3%5000-10,000 10 13.3%

10,000-15,000 16 21.3%15,000-20,000 14 18.7%20,000-25,000 07 9.3%25,000-30,000 09 12.0%30,000-35,000 04 5.3%35,000-40,000 02 2.7%

Over 40,000 00 0.0%

N=75

148

Table 8 contains information which show s that 30.7% have had

only a high school education, while 22.7% have had a t least on e or two

y ears of college. Including those who did not com plete high school

and those who attended a trade school, 64% of the sam ple do not have

college deg ree status. Thirty-six percent of the sam ple have obtained

college d eg rees , which includes the 12% having asso c ia te d eg rees . Of

the 36% , eight percent have obtained g raduate d eg rees.

Table 8

Education Level of Subjects

Educational Level N %

L ess than high school 4 5.3%High school 23 30.7%O ne year of college 14 18.7%A ssociate degree 9 12.0%Two years of college 3 4.0%B achelors degree 12 16.0%M asters deg ree 2 2.7%M asters deg ree plus 4 5.3%PhD 0 0.0%T rade school 4 5.3%

N=75

149

Table 9 contains information which show s that 61.3% of the

subjects w ere married, while 38.6% w ere single, sep ara ted , divorced,

or widowed. A large percen tage of the subjects, 77.2% , have been

married a t one time.

Table 9

Marital S ta tus of the Subjects

Marital S ta tu s N %

Married 46 61.3%Single 17 22.7%S epara ted 1 1.3%Divorced 10 13.3%Widowed 1 1.3%

N=75

150

As can be see n from table 10, 33.3% of the sub jects w ere

betw een 30-39 years of age, while 29.3% w ere betw een 40-49 years

of age. Well over half (62.6%) of the subjects w ere in this middle

range.

Table 10

Age of the Subjects

Age N %

20-24 8 10.6%25-29 7 9.3%30-34 15 20.0%35-39 10 13.3%40-44 13 17.3%45-49 9 12.0%50-54 6 8.0%55-59 2 2.6%60-64 5 6.6%

N=75

iI

151

Table 11 show s that 26.7% did not have children and 42.7% did not

have children in the hom e a t the tim e of the study. A large percen tage

of this sam ple, 73.3% have had children, and 57.3% still had children

in the hom e at the time of the study.

Table 11

Num ber of Children Raised and Number Still Living in the Hom e of the Subjects

Chdrn R aised N %

0 20 26.7%1 13 17.3%2 19 25.3%3 9 12.0%4 8 10.7%5 3 4.0%6 3 4.0%

Still in Home N %

0 32 42.7%1 14 18.7%2 18 24.0%3 9 12.0%4 1 1.3%5 1 1.3%6 0 0.0%

N=75

As can be see n from table 12, only 18.7% have been trea ted for

hypertension within the p ast year.

Table 12

Hypertension Treatm ent of the Subjects

Treatm ent N %

Had treatm ent 14 18.7%No treatm ent 61 81.3%

N=75

The religious doctrines represented by the sub jec ts w ere

Baptists, Apostolics, M ethodists, Saints of Christ, an d the Church of

God.

Analysis of the Data

The primary d a ta in this research consisted of the African

Self-C onsciousness Scale (ASC) m ean sco res, the sex-role categories,

the feminine and m asculine raw scores, the raw sco res of the

State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the total sco res of the S chedule of

R ecent Experience, and dem ographic data. T hese d a ta w ere analyzed

using t-tests, plots, the Pearson product m om ent correlation, ANOVA,

a post hoc te s t (D uncan 's range), and chi-square statistical

procedures. The statistical findings have been p resen ted in the form

of tab les and discussion.

R resm tation and Piscusslon.of the Statistical Analysis of the Data

R esearch question 1 : Do African American w om en reporting a high

Africentric world view evidence less anxiety a s m easured by the

A -State and A-Trait S cales of the State-Trait Anixety Inventory, than

th o se who report a low Africentric world view?

Table 13 displays the m eans and standard deviations of subjects '

sco res on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory by Africentric group.

O bservation of the d a ta show ed little variability betw een th e groups.

154

Table 13

M eans and S tandard Deviations of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

by Africentric Group

S tate Trait

M SD M SD

Low Africentricity 38.20 10.20 40.80 11.00High Africentricity 38.60 12.60 41.80 12.80

N=75

To ad d re ss the above hypothesis, d a ta w ere analyzed using a

t-test to com pare the differences betw een the m eans of the high and

low Africentric groups a s they relate to A-State and A-Trait anxiety.

The t-test revealed ng significant differences betw een the m eans of

the high an d low Africentric groups and the A-State and A-Trait

sco res: 1(73) = .12; 1(73)= .36, respectively. For further exploration,

a plot w as observed to s e e w hat visible relationship existed betw een

the two variables. Inspection of the plot (see Fig. 9 & 10) revealed a

w eak linear relationship. No other type of relationship ap p eared to

exist.

Stat

e A

nxie

ty

I

155

3.75

3.375

3

2.625

2.25

1.875

1.5

1.1253.575 4.125 4.675 5.225 5.775 6.325 6.875 7.425

3.85 4.4 4.95 5.5 6.05 6.6 7.15 7.7

Africentric

Figure 8

Plot of Africentric S cores With S ta te Anxiety S cores

7.8

7.2

4.8

4.2

3.61.225 1.575 1.925 2.275 2.625 2.975 3.325 3.675

1.05 1.4 1.75 2.1 2.45 2.8 3.15 3.5Trait Anxiety

Figure 9

Plot of Africentric S cores With Trait Anxiety S cores

I I » I

• I •M I I I *

- f t— t __________ i „ , . . . . .... i r t >* i—*r—f-

The P earson product m om ent correlation substan tia ted the weak

linear relationship betw een the Africentric sco res and s ta te anxiety

(r=.04 ) and betw een the Africentric sco res and trait anxiety (r=-.03).

R esearch question # 2 : Do African American wom en reporting an

androgynous sex-role orientation, evidence less anxiety a s m easured

by the A-State and A-trait S cales of the State-Trait Anxiety

Inventory, than those who do not report an androgynous sex-role

orientation?

Table 14 displays the m eans and standard deviations of subjects'

sco res on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory by sex-role group. An

examination of Table 14 revealed som e variation betw een groups.

Table 14

M eans and S tandard Deviations of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

by Sex-role Group

S ta te Trait

M SD M SD

Feminine 36.67 12.29 41.99 13.76Masculine 36.56 8.77 37.25 9.26Androgynous 35.90 9.64 37.95 10.04Undifferentiated 44.61 12.94 47.85 12.23

N=75

To ad d ress the seco n d research question, sco res on both the

A-State and A-Trait anxiety m easu res w ere analyzed using ANOVA.

As show n in T ables 15 and 16 the results revealed a significant

difference betw een A -State and A-Trait anxiety and sex-role

orientation. For the A -State sca le the F ratio w as 2.78 (3 df, p<.05).

For the A-Trait sca le the F ratio w as 3.59 (3 df, p<.05).

158

Table 15

Analysis of Variance of S ta te Anxiety with Sex-role Orientation

S ta te Anxiety

Source Sum of D egrees of Mean FS quares Freedom S quares Ratio

Sex-role 2.53 3 .84 2.78*

Error 21.58 71 .304

N=75 *p<.05

159

Table 16

Analysis of V ariance of Trait Anxiety With Sex-role Orientation

Trait Anxiety

Source Sum of S quares

D egrees of Freedom

MeanS quares

FRatio

Sex-role 3.48 3 1.16 3.59*

Error 22.92 71 .32

N=75 *p<.05

To determ ine which groups show ed statistical significant

differences, a D uncan 's range te s t w as im plem ented and da ta w ere

te sted a t the .05 level of statistical significance. The D uncan's range

te s t revealed that wom en with an undifferentiated sex-role

orientation reported significantly higher levels of s ta te anxiety than

wom en holding an androgynous, m asculine, or feminine orientation.

With regards to trait anxiety, the D uncan's range te s t revealed

tha t wom en with a m asculine or androgynous orientation reported

significantly lower levels of trait anxiety than wom en with an

undifferentiated orientation. However, women with a feminine

orientation w ere not shown to be significantly different in their

levels of trait anxiety than w om en reporting an undifferentiated

orientation or wom en reporting a m asculine or androgynous

orientation. As can be seen in Table 17, they could be grouped with

either S u b se t 1 or S ub se t 2.

Table 17

D uncan's R ange T est of Sex-role C ategories With S tate and Trait Anxiety

S ta te Anxiety Trait Anxiety

S u b se t 1 F A M F A M

Grp. Mean 36.67 35.90 36.56 41.99 37.95 37.2

S u b se t 2 U F U

Grp. Mean 44.61 41.99 47.85

161

To determ ine if there w as any interaction betw een sex-role,

Africentric world view and sta te and/or trait anxiety a two way

ANOVA w as perform ed. The results (Tables 18 and 19) revealed a

main effect of sex-role orientation with trait anxiety and no

interaction.

Table 18

Analysis of Variance of Africentric and Sex-role C ategories on S tate Anxiety

S ta te Anxiety

Sum of D egrees of M ean FS quares Freedom S q u ares Ratio

Main Effects Africentric G roups .00Sex-role G roups 2.53 3

.00 .01.84 2.62

InteractionAfric x Sex-role 0.59 3 .02 .06

Error 21.52 67 .32

N=75

162

Table 19

Analysis of Variance of Africentric and Sex-role C ategories with Trait Anxiety

Trait Anxiety

Sum of D egrees of M ean FS quares Freedom S quares Ratii

Main EffectsAfricentric G roups .01 1 .01 .03Sex-role G roups 3.44 3 1.15 3.44*

InteractionAfric x Sex-role .57 3 .19 .57

Error 22.34 67 .33

N=75 *p<.05

The Schedule of R ecent Experience (SRE) w as used a s a covariate

in an analysis of covariance to determ ine if recen t life experiences of

the sub jects would change the results. A significant difference w as

observed betw een the SRE and the A-State and A-Trait anxiety sco res.

The F ratios for the A-State and A-Trait anxiety sco res w ere E=15.02

and E=13.54 respectively. Although main effects w ere observed with

regard to sex-role orientation, none w ere observed with regards to

163

Africentric world view and no interaction am ong th e se variables

occurred. The SR E did not ch an g e the results with regards to sex-role

and Africentric world view (see Tables 20 and 21).

Table 20

S chedule of R ecent Experience a s a Covariate in an Analysis of Covariance

with S tate Anxiety by Sex-role and Africentric C ategories

S tate Anxiety

Sum of S quares

D egrees of Freedom

MeanS quares

FRatio

CovariateSRE 4.06 1 4.06 15.02*

Main Effects Sex-role 2.09 3 .70 2.57*Africentric .06 1 .06 .22

InteractionSex-role x Afric .04 3 .02 .05

Error 17.84 66 .27

N=75 *p<.10**p<.001

164

Table 21

S chedule of R ecent Experience a s a Covariate in an Analysis of Covariance

with Trait Anxiety by Sex-role and Africentric C ategories

Trait Anxiety

Sum of S quares

D egrees of Freedom

MeanS quare

FRatio

CovariateSRE 3.98 1 3.98 13.54*

Main Effects Sex-role 2.80 3 .93 3.17*Africentric .03 1 .03 .03

InteractionSex-role x Afric .20 3 .07 .22

Error 19.41 66 .29

N=75 *p<.05**p<.001

Related Findings

Due to the exploratory nature of this research several additional

an a ly ses w ere explored and provided further insight into the obtained

results.

Femininity and masculinity sco res . S ince the m edian-split

m ethod of categorization is often criticized for its loss of

information tha t occurs through grouping (Cook, 1985) and to

determ ine m ore abou t the nature of the significant differences in the

above results, additional analy ses w ere perform ed utilizing the

femininity raw sco res and masculinity raw scores. Additional

analyses, using the P earson product m om ent correlation, revealed a

significant relationship betw een sta te anxiety and the masculinity

sco re (r = .23, N=75, p<.05) and betw een trait anxiety and the

masculinity sco re (r = .43, N=75, p<.001). Those wom en who had

higher masculinity sco res displayed lower A-State and A-Trait

anxiety sco res. The Pearson product m om ent correlation show ed no.

significant relationship of subjects ' femininity score with s ta te and

trait anxiety. The masculinity score w as particularly sensitive to

A -State and A-Trait anxiety scores.

166

D em ographic d a ta . Additional analyses involved the use of

dem ographic d a ta to determ ine its impact on subjects ' anxiety

scores. With research showing that individuals in lower

socioeconom ic levels experience higher levels of s tre ss and that

many African American w om en are in lower socioeconom ic levels, an

ANOVA betw een sex-role groups and socioeconom ic levels b a sed on

the A -State and A-Trait anxiety sco res w as perform ed. R esults

revealed significant main effects on sex-role a t £<-05 (s e e Tables 22

and 23) and interaction with trait anxiety at £< .10 level of statistical

significance.

Table 22

Analysis of Variance of Socioeconom ic S ta tu s and Sex-role with State Anxiety

S ta te Anxiety

Sum of D egrees of M ean FS q u ares Freedom S q u ares Ratio

Main EffectsSE S .05 1 .05 .16Sex-role 2.55 3 .85 2.83*

InteractionSE S x sex-role 1.38 3 .46 1.53

Error 20.15 67 .30

N=75 *p<.05

167

Table 23

Analysis of Variance of Socioeconom ic S ta tu s and Sex-role With Trait Anxiety

Trait Anxiety

Sum of S quares

D egrees of Freedom

MeanS q u ares

FRatio

Main EffectsSE S .80 1 .79 2.67Sex-role 3.28 3 1.09 3.69*’

InteractionSE S x sex-role 2.31 3 .77 2.61*

Error 19.82 67 .30

N=75 *p<.10**p<.05

Subjects reporting a feminine orientation w ere m ost affected by

socioeconom ic level a s can be seen in T ables 24 and 25. Those who

w ere categorized a s having a low socioeconom ic level had higher

levels of s ta te and trait anxiety than those with a high socioeconom ic

level.

168

Table 24

M eans S cores of S tate Anxiety By Sex-role and Socioeconom ic S ta tus

Sex-role F A M U

SES LowHigh

40.0026.80

35.6036.20

34.6037.20

43.4045.80

Table 25

M ean S cores of Trait Anxiety By Sex-role and Socioeconom ic S ta tus

Sex-role F A M U

SES Low 47.00 38.80 37.00 47.20High 27.00 36.80 36.80 48.40

169

To determ ine how the masculinity and femininity sco res w ere

contributing to the above results, t-tests w ere perform ed. A t-test

show ed a significant difference betw een the femininity score for the

high and low socioeconom ic levels: [1(73) = 2.62, £<.01 ]. However, no

significant difference w as found betw een the masculinity score and

high and low socioeconom ic levels.

A cross tabulation w as perform ed betw een socioeconom ic level

and feminine group to exam ine how subjects w ere distributed with

the two variables jointly. A chi-square statistical procedure w as

perform ed to te s t for independence of the two variables. T h ese two

variables w ere not independent of each other. Subjects with a high

femininity sco re w ere m ore likely to have a low socioeconom ic level

than a high socioeconom ic level while subjects with a low femininity

score w ere m ore likely to have a high socioeconom ic level:

Xa (l, N=75) = 4.80, £<.05; X2(1, &=75) = 5.80, £<.05.

170

Table 26

C hi-Square Test of Association Between Feminine G roups and Socioeconom ic Levels

O b served Freq. Row %Colum n % L ov F em in in e High F em in in e

RowTotal

Low S oc io eco n om ic1435.937.8

2564.165.8

3952

High S oc io eco n om ic 2363.962.2

1336.134.2

3648

Colum nTotal

3749.3

3850.7

75100

Further u se of dem ographic data, revealed a significant inverse

relationship betw een a g e and A-Trait anxiety, (r = .27, N=75, £<.05).

T -tests on s ta te and trait anxiety with the remaining dem ographic

d a ta (hypertension treatm ent, marital s tatus, and educational level,

and num ber of children) revealed no significant differences.

171

Analysis of variance w as perform ed to exam ine the relationship

betw een high and low Africentric world view and the socioeconom ic

ca tegories (high and low) b ased on the A -State and A-Trait scores.

However, the results (see Tables 27 & 28) revealed dq significant

main effects or interaction.

Table 27

Analysis of V ariance of Africentricity and Socioeconom ic S tatus

with S tate Anxiety

S ta te Anxiety

Sum of S quares

D egrees of Freedom

MeanS q u ares

FRatio

Main EffectsAfricentric .00 1 .01 .01SES .03 1 .03 .08

InteractionAfric x SE S .02 1 .02 .07

Error 24.05 71 .34

N=75

Table 28

Analysis of Variance of Africentricity and Socioeconom ic S tatus

with Trait Anxiety

Sum of S q u ares

D egrees of Freedom

MeanS q u ares

FRatio

Main EffectsAfricentric .06 1 .06 .16SES 1.00 1 1.00 2.81

InteractionAfric x SES .04 1 .04 .11

Error 25.31 71 .36

N=75

No significant differences with subjects ' Africentric group w ere

revealed in examining educational levels, age, marital s tatus, num ber

of children or hypertension treatm ent. Although not statistically

significant, older subjects revealed a higher Africentric m ean score.

A probability value of .17 w as obtained.

Additional t-tests w ere perform ed on the masculinity sco res and

the femininity sco res with dem ographic information to determ ine any

significant d ifferences and to determ ine further how dem ographic

d a ta may influence th e results and/or conclusions that can be m ade.

T h ese results revealed that th e masculinity sco re w as particularly

sensitive to educational level. A significant difference betw een the

college d eg ree and non-college deg ree wom en on the masculinity

sca le w as dem onstrated . The subjects with a college d eg ree had

higher masculinity sco res 1(73) = 1.97, £<.05.

A c ross tabulation betw een the high and low m asculine groups

and educational groups (college deg ree vs. no college degree), using

chi-square statistical procedure revealed a dependen t relationship,

X2(l, M=75) = 4.31, p<.05. Table 29 show s tha t subjects with a

college d eg ree w ere m ore likely to endorse masculinity traits. As

noted previously, the high masculinity group w ere those who scored

above the m edian, 4 .69, and th e low m asculine group w ere th o se who

scored below the m edian on th e m asculine scale. Those with a high

m asculine sco re w ere more likely to have a college d eg ree than th ose

with a low m asculine score.

174

Table 29

Chi-Square T est of Association Between High and Low M asculine Groups

with Educational Level

O b se rve d Freq. Row %C olum n % Low Masculine High Masculine

RowTotal

%

No 26 19 45C ollege Degree 57.6 42.2 60

72.2 48.7

10 20 30C ollege Degree 33.3 66.7 40

27.8 51.3

Colum n 36 39 75Total 48 52 100

%

A significant statistical difference w as observed with high and

low socioeconom ic levels and educational level, i(73) = 3.42, £<-001.

High socioeconom ic sta tus w as associated with college d eg rees

status.

175

No significant differences with subjects ' masculinity and femininity

sco res w ere revealed in examining hypertension treatm ent, num ber of

children, or marital status.

Summaiy.

In sum m ary, this chapter p resen ted a description of the sam ple

and presentation an d discussion of the analysis of the data.

Dem ographic characteristics revealed a narrow range of variability,

suggesting a rather hom oegeneous sam ple.

With regards to Africentric world view, the sco res from the

sam ple group dem onstrated a small range and clustered around the

division point betw een the high and low groups Africentric groups.

S cores on the sta te and trait anxiety m easu re indicated that this

group experienced considerable variability in their levels of anxiety.

Subjects w ere fairly evenly distributed into the four sex-role

categories with m ore women perceiving them selves a s not following

sex-typed prescriptions. More of the wom en defined them selves a s

androgynous and undifferentiated.

176

A nalyses of d a ta collected to te s t the first hypothesis resulted in

failure to reject the null hypothesis. Statistical analysis of the

second hypothesis revealed rejection of the null hypothesis and

partial accep tance of the hypothesis. Results revealed that subjects

with a m asculine, feminine, and androgynous sex-role orientation

report significantly lower levels of s ta te anxiety than sub jects with

an undifferentiated sex-role orientation. Subjects with a m asculine

and androgynous sex-role orientation report significantly lower

levels of trait anxiety than subjects with an undifferentiated

sex-role orientation.

Several significant related findings w ere also observed.

Masculinity sco res w ere particularly sensitive to s ta te and trait

anxiety, while femininity sco res w ere not. An inverse relationship

w as revealed betw een masculinity sco res and s ta te and trait anxiety.

Dem ographic d a ta also yielded several interesting findings.

W omen with a feminine orientation dem onstrated lower levels of

anxiety if their socioeconom ic level w as high than if their

socioeconom ic level w as low. An inverse relationship of a g e with

trait anxiety w as also dem onstrated .

College deg ree African American subjects had significantly higher

masculinity sco res than non-college deg ree subjects. Lastly, wom en

who w ere described a s having higher educational levels, also w ere

classified in the higher socioeconom ic level.

i|

CHAPTER V

DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction

This study investigated s tre ss of African American women. More

specifically, the purpose of the p resen t study w as to exam ine

differences in the s tre ss of em ployed African American women a s

related to their world view and sex-role orientation. C onsiderable

research has been conducted over the p ast th ree d e ca d e s yielding a

wealth of information concerning the nature, incidence, effects, and

sou rces of s tre ss . Also, a num ber of studies have explored coping

strategies. More recently, s tre ss research has investigated s tre ss as

it re la tes to w om en. However, little attention h a s been given to

examining s tre ss and m ethods of coping that a re specific to African

American w om en. R ecent writings by African American psychologists

(Azibo, 1983a, 1983b; Baldwin & Bell, 1985; Curry, 1981; 1984;

Gibson, 1984) su g g est a world view or an orientation to life which,

rooted in African culture, affirms Black consc iousness and en h an ces

psychological functioning and well-being. In addition, an androgynous

sex-role orientation has been hypothesized to b e related to one’s

well-being (Bern, 1977; Kaplan, 1979; M arecek, 1979). The current

177

research w as motivated by the lack of research examining th ese

theories a s they relate specifically to s tre ss and African American

wom en.

This chap ter will sum m arize the study and d iscuss the results of

this investigation. The chap ter is organized into the following

sections: (1) sum m ary of the study, (2) findings, (3) discussion of the

findings, (4) conclusions, (5) implications, and (6) recom m endations

for further research .

Sum m ary of the Study

This study w as designed to exam ine differences in world view

and sex-role orientation a s they relate to s tre ss am ong em ployed

African American women. As a descriptive study, questionnaires

w ere utilized a s the m ethod for da ta collection for hypotheses

testing. The study w as conducted in a small m idwestern town.

Subjects responded to dem ographic information and several

questionnaires th a t a s s e s s e d their perceived s tre ss , world view,

recen t life events, and sex-role orientation. The independent

variables in the study w ere Africentric world view and sex-role

orientation. Africentric world view w as m easured by the African

Self-C onsciousness Scale and sex-role orientation w as m easured by

the Bern Sex-role Inventory. The dependent variable, perceived

stress , w as m easured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.

Two hypotheses w ere te sted by utilizing t-tests, plots, Pearson

product m om ent correlation, ANOVA, and a post hoc te s t (D uncan's

range). In related findings, the P earson product m om ent correlation,

t-tests, ANOVA, and chi-square statistical procedures w ere used.

Findings

The research questions for this study w ere a s follows:

1. Do African American w om en reporting a high Africentric world

view, evidence less anxiety a s m easured by the A-State and A-Trait

S ca les of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, than th o se who report a

low Africentric world view?

2. Do African American wom en reporting an androgynous sex-role

orientation evidence less anxiety than wom en who do not report an

androgynous sex-role orientation?

To te s t the first hypothesis a t-test w as perform ed on the

Africentric m ean scores and the A-State and A-Trait raw scores.

R esults revealed no significant differences in the s ta te anxiety

180

(t = .12, p= 0.90) of high and low Africentric world view and no

significant differences in the trait anxiety (t = .36, p = 0.72) of high

and low Africentric world view. T hus the null hypothesis w as not

rejected. To explore further, observance of a plot revealed a w eak

linear relationship, which w as substan tia ted by a low Pearson

product m om ent correlation. The plot revealed no other type of

relationship th a t might exist.

To test th e second hypothesis an ANOVA w as perform ed on the

raw scroes of th e sex-role categories and the A-State and A-Trait

raw scores. T he results revealed a significant difference betw een

sex-role orientation and s ta te anxiety (F = 2.78, £<.05) and betw een

sex-role orientation and trait anxiety (F = 3.59, £<.05). Subjects with

a masculine, feminine, or androgynous orientation held significantly

lower levels of s ta te anxiety than subjects with an undifferentiated

orientation. With regards to trait anxiety, subjects with a m asculine

or androgynous sex-role orientation held significantly lower levels of

trait anxiety than subjects with an undifferentiated orientation.

Subjects with a feminine orientation w ere not significantly different

with regards to trait anxiety from th ose with an undifferentiated

orientation nor significantly different from th ose with an

androgynous or a m asculine orientation.

Due to the exploratory nature of this research and the results

with regards to sex-role orientation, Pearson product correlations

w ere perform ed utilizing the femininity raw sco res and masculinity

raw sco res to determ ine m ore about the nature of the significant

differences. Furtherm ore, the m edian-split m ethod of categorization

has been criticized for the loss of information that occurs through

grouping (Cook, 1985). R esults of a Pearson product correlation

revealed a significant relationship betw een s ta te anxiety and the

masculinity score (r = .23, e<-05 ) and betw een trait anxiety and the

masculinity sco res (£ = .43, £<.001). W hereas, the P earson product

m om ent correlation revealed no significant relationship of s ta te or

trait anxiety with the femininity sco res. The masculinity sco res

w ere m ore sensitive to s ta te and trait anxiety than the femininity

scores.

Additional an a ly ses involved the u se of dem ographic d a ta to

determ ine its im pact on subjects ' anxiety scores. The results

revealed interaction betw een socioeconom ic sta tu s and sex-role with

regards to trait anxiety (F = 2.61, £<.10). Feminine subjects with a

low socioeconom ic level show ed higher levels of anxiety than

feminine subjects with a high socioeconom ic level. Also, a

significant inverse relationship w as dem onstrated betw een ag e and

A-Trait anxiety (r = .27, £<.05). Lastly, significant differences w ere

revealed betw een the educational level and masculinity sco res

(1 = 1.97, £<.05). Higher m eans of the masculinity sco res w ere

observed with a higher educational level.

In sum m ary, the single b est descriptor of anxiety level w as

sex-role orientation. The results w ere consisten t with research that

dem onstra tes masculinity and/or androgyny assoc iated with

emotional well-being (Bern, 1977; Cook, 1985; S pence & Helmreich,

1978). Interaction of sex-role with socioeconom ic sta tus would

indicate relevance of those studies (English, 1983; Hollingshead &

Redlich, 1958; Reism an, Cohen & Pearl, 1964) which dem onstrate a

relationship betw een social c lass and s tre ss and/or mental disorders.

Thus high s tre ss could be said to be the result of social c la ss and/or

lack of u sag e of instrum ental and flexible behaviors a sso c ia ted with

masculinity and androgyny. No significant differences in anxiety

w ere observed betw een high and low Africentric world views. This

m ay be due to a num ber of limitations in the study or due to

conceptual or research issues raised in the conduct of this study.

T hese issu es a re d iscu ssed in the following section.

I

183

Discussion of the Findings

The hypothesis that high Africentric African American wom en

would report le ss anxiety w as not supported. Several explanations

related to the subjects, setting, instrum ents, and theory, may

attribute to this lack of support.

Nature of su b jec ts . It w as noted that subjects ' sco res on the

Africentric sca le displayed a narrow range and tha t this range

cen tered around the division betw een the high and low Africentric

categories. This suggested that the sam ple may have been too narrow

to allow for variation. P erhaps the nature of the community or the

fact that all sub jects w ere affiliated with a church m ay indicate that

they have had similar experiences over their lifetime. Small tow ns

m ay not have the variability of resou rces found in larger cities. Thus

subjects ' lifestyles and/or experiences may be relatively

hom ogeneous.

Furtherm ore, by utilizing church going subjects, who w ere mostly

Christians, their affiliation with a church may rep resen t similar

perspectives with regard to their behaviors and/or values.

Furtherm ore, stud ies to date, utilizing the African

S elf-C onsciousness S cale have used college undergraduate

populations who a re m ore frequently exposed to research

undertakings. The majority of the subjects in this study w ere older

than the typical college undergraduate and m any had not a ttended

college. For an older, working population of w om en, of whom many

have not attended college, involvement in research is not a regular

feature of their environment. Unfamiliarity with te s t taking

procedures, research purposes and procedures, intentions of the

research and/or researcher, the reluctance of African Am ericans in

general to participate in research , especially those of low income

sta tus, (Word, 1977) may all have contributed to the results.

In addition, several subjects indicated their uncom fortableness

with the d irectness and forthrightness of the questions. This may

result from the lifetime suppression of African American behaviors

and thought and internalization of the values of the dom inant society.

Suppression of o n e 's cultural beliefs m ay enab le difficulty in tapping

the philosophical underpinnings of one 's culture with current

instrum ents.

Nature of the setting. Another explanation for the lack of support

for the first hypothesis may be due to the lack of opportunity for

Black expression in the setting. Baldwin, Duncan, and Bell (1987)

reported tha t African American self-consciousness ap p ea rs to be

positively asso c ia ted with the deg ree of pro-Black norm s, social

expectancies, and reinforcem ents in o n e 's environm ent. Its

expression or suppression is a result of differential em phasis on its

reinforcem ent during early socialization experiences and a variety of

o ther psychologically distorting circum stances that a re usually

institutional or system ic in nature (Baldwin, 1981). In other words, a

higher deg ree of African self-consciousness is likely to occur w hen

pro-African American behavior is socially accep tab le and reinforced.

With traditional dom inant society expectataions, it can be assum ed

that the community h a s not traditionally provided, in their

institutions, th o se activities, knowledge b a se s , values, and

expressions tha t support Black consciousness. Even the church

experience usually projects the values, lifestyles, and experiences of

the larger society. Akbar (1984) h as d iscussed the issue of the

psychological d am age that occurs in African Am ericans a s a result of

the u se of European-Am erican sym bols, pictures, and custom s in

African American churches. Thus, little attention may have been

given to em phasis on knowledge of self a s an African American

person.

Nature of the instrum ents. Of particular interest w as the fact

that th e Africentric m easu re w as the only instrum ent utilized that

did not show any significant differences, coupled with the fact that it

w as the only intracultural m easure (specific to African American

culture). This calls into question the nature of the instrum ents.

There may be assum ptions pertaining to either the culturally specific

instrum ent or the traditional instrum ents utilized in this study that

require further exam ination. Instrum ents, such a s the State-Trait

Anxiety Inventory, a re referred to a s traditional instrum ents (Lonner,

1976) b e ca u se they do not consider cultural specificity in their

developm ent. T hese traditional instrum ents m ake assum ptions that

the construct or concept being m easured is applicable to all cultures;

that it is valid, meaningful, and holds similar m eanings across

cultures. While traditional instrum ents can be useful w hen making

cross-cultural com parisons (Lonner, 1976), research that is

culturally specific seek s to explain phenom ena in term s of categories

that a re meaningful within a specific culture. Explanations, concepts,

and/or definitions prevalent in one culture can not always be a ssu m ed

to be valid and meaningful w hen applied to different culture.

Leong, Tseng, and Wu (1985) su g g est that s tress h a s not b een

proven to be a valid concep t a c ro ss cultures. Since concep ts m ay be

culture-bound, s tre ss may not have the sam e meaning for African

American wom en a s applied universally. The study by Malveaux

(1984) noted tha t although African American wom en experienced

s tre ss related sym ptom s, they did not define their situations as

s tre ss fu l.

Even if cross-cultural ag reem ent exists a s to what a construct or

concept is, the criteria that docum ent its particular cultural

manifestation m ay vary (Lonner, 1976). Criteria involve the

m easurable level of functioning that is suggestive of the m agnitude

of the underlying construct being a s se s se d . P erhaps the m easu re for

anxiety, a traditional m easure , may be missing the ability to tap the

actual experiences of African American w om en. Q uestions pertaining

to p h enom ena such a s marginality, over-observation, m istrust of

W hites a re not typically found on anxiety m easu res. Also, situations

that m any African American endure over long periods of tim e may

have becom e the norm for them and thus a re not viewed a s stressful,

but just the way things are. Since change is a factor asso c ia ted with

s tress , their situations, w hen evaluated within their own life

experiences, have not changed and a re not perceived a s stressful.

A nother explanation for the results may have been due to the use

of the self-report m easu re to a s s e s s Africentric world view. O ne of

the limitations of self-report m easu res is the conscious and/or

unconscious distortion of resp o n ses (Piers, 1984). O ne canno t always

be su re that the ex p ressed attitude is the real attitude. S om etim es a

re sp o n se s e t may prevent one from giving an accura te account of

his/her opinion or attitude. A response se t is a b iased and consisten t

way of responding to an attitude sca le that reflects a characteristic

of the responden t o ther than his/her evaluative reaction to the

attitude object (Petty, Ostrom, Brock, 1981). The response s e t of

social approval may have been a factor which attributed to the narrow

range and lack of variability in the sco res. The type of questions on

the African Self-C onsciousness Scale require subjects to respond to

the deg ree with which they identify with Black consciousness.

Identifying strongly with African American values and custom s

h as historically b een viewed a s militant or negative and has

som etim es resu lted in negative co n seq u en ces for African Americans.

Due to the nature of the questions and fearing negative consequences,

subjects may have chosen safe re sp o n ses to the items.

The validity of self-report m easu res is en hanced to the extent

that subjects a re convinced that their re sp o n ses a re anonym ous and

that there are no right or wrong answ ers (Petty, Ostrom , Brock,

1981). Concern abou t th e se issu es is important a s a m em ber of an

o p p ressed group. Frazier (1957) has d iscu ssed paranoia am ong

African Am ericans a s a healthy and purposeful m ode of survival in an

oppressive society. Paranoia can be considered a strategic m ode of

operation in a society w here the behaviors and intentions of o thers

cannot be a ssu m ed or taken for granted. This strategic orientation is

reflective of an Africentric orientation, w hen one considers that

Africentric world view is characterized by its well developed social

consc iousness (Baldwin, 1981; Myers, 1985; Nobles, 1976) a s

reflected in its com m unal/cooperative orientation. To be

cooperative, one m ust be able to read the environm ent well to

determ ine w hat is needed . Also, to be cooperative, implies the

avoidance of creating conflict. W hen the environm ent d o es not

prom ote those values, attitudes, or beliefs that are synonym ous with

the individual, the attem pt to avoid conflict also c rea te s conflict

within the individual. The d eep structure com ponents of world view

may require varying stra teg ies for a ssessm en t.

Although the ASC sca le a s s e s s e d a com m unal phenom enology and

unity, which are highly valued com ponents of Africentric world view,

several com ponents w ere not directly a sse sse d , such a s time

orientation and relationship with nature. A ssessm en t of th e se

com ponents of world view may permit a better evaluation of world

view with s tress .

The theory . Theoretical literature thus far would support the

hypothesis that p e rsons em bracing a high Africentric world view

would ev idence less s tress . Africentric world view perm its harmony

with regards to behaviors and beliefs and/or values and enab les

African A m ericans to view their behaviors from a positive and

affirming fram e of reference. The nature of African American

w om en's situations require them to opera te in w ays tha t a re alien or

apart from their cultural core or values and belief system . Although,

one may em brace an Africentric world view, societal expectations

and expectations of the dom inant society often require African

A m ericans to function otherw ise to obtain what is n ecessa ry in their

lives. Until societal expectations allow for cultural diversity,

African American w om en m ay be unable to bring harm ony to their

behaviors and beliefs. This view is substantiated by the Fine,

Schw ebel and Myers study (1985) which indicated that single m others

living on their own did not advocate an Africentric world view due to

the fact tha t the significant s tre ss and difficulties they experienced

rendered them less ab le to advocate the nonmaterialist,

noncompetitive Africentric belief system . Single m others continually

a re th rea tened by the feeling that there are alw ays m ore and m ore

material goods to acquire and individuals to com pete with. Embracing

a high Africentric world view may necessita te its implementation to

the fullest extent in all a sp ec ts of one 's life to be truly effective a s a

m eans of experiencing less s tress .

Finally, utilizing instrum ents from varying world views m ust be

questioned. Instrum ents assess in g variables from different

philosophical assum ptions m ay not yield any relationship or

differences in m eans of groups. Furthermore, instrum ents a ssess in g

varying levels of the culture m ay not be com parable. While one

instrum ent is attempting to m easure d eep structure com ponents of

the culture, the other instrum ent may m easure surface level

com ponents. T hese concerns would need further examination.

The second hypothesis, th a t African American w om en reporting an

androgynous sex-role orientation, will report less anxiety than

women who do not report an androgynous sex-role orientation, w as

partially supported. A major finding of this study revealed that

women who had a m asculine and androgynous sex-role orientation had

lower levels of s ta te and trait anxiety and wom en who had an

undifferentiated sex-role orientation had higher levels of state and

trait anxiety. M asculine individuals a re characterized a s exhibiting

instrumental traits such a s aggressiveness, independence, logic, and

com petitiveness. Feminine individuals are characterized as

exhibiting expressive traits such a s passivity, dependence,

nurturance, and emotion. Androgynous individuals exhibit traits

which a re inclusive of the instrum ental and expressive dom ains.

Undifferentiated individuals s e e them selves a s little identified with

either m asculine or feminine characteristics. The findings in this

study partially support theories and o ther findings which conclude

that androgynous persons a re better adjusted and m ore

psychologically healthy than sex-typed individuals and that

undifferentiated persons a re the w orst off (Bern, 1974; Orlofsky,

1977; Spence, Helmreich & Stepp, 1975). The fact th a t m asculine

oriented subjects also reported lower levels of state an d trait

anxiety than w om en with an undifferentiated orientation and lower

trait anxiety than women with a feminine orientation su g g ests th a t

the characteristics specific to both a m asculine and

androgynous orientation m ay contribute to th e lower levels of

anxiety. Both of th e se categories en d o rse m asculine characteristics

and analysis of th e data dem onstrated that the masculinity sco res

show ed a significant relationship with regards to anxiety rather than

the femininity sco res . The stronger effect of the masculinity sco re

supports o ther findings that show a m asculine suprem acy effect

(Cook, 1985, p.96). Explanations for this effect a re described by Cook

(1985). Som e theorists (Rowland, 1980; Yager & Baker, 1979) su g g est

tha t m asculine behaviors m ay permit survival skills, a c c e ss to

im portant resources, and control over situations and interactions.

T h ese behaviors a re attributes which a re highly valued in U.S. society

and obtain m ore social rew ards.

Another finding revealed that w om en with a feminine orientation

reported lower levels of s ta te anxiety. Femininity sco res have been

positively correlated with nurturant behaviors (Bern, Martyna, &

W atson, 1976) but negatively correlated with emotional stability and

well being (Whitley, 1983). A possible explanation for this unusual

finding su g g ests that the nurturant and expressive behaviors

characteristic of femininity m ay allow for a re lease of tension or

anxiety. While a feminine orientation d o e s not give subjects

flexibility to cope with long term life situations that may produce

trait anxiety, this orientation m ay enable subjects to re lease current

s ta te anxiety by affirming the appropria teness of exhibiting

expressive behaviors.

Also, it h a s been described previously that African American wom en

tend to have a traditional ideology about family and sex-roles, that

m aternal attitudes a re strong, and that traditional and

non-traditional roles of wom en are equally end o rsed (Gump, 1975;

Malson, 1983; McCray, 1980; Scanzoni, 1975). Nurturant behaviors

are highly valued am ong African Americans and may contribute to the

low levels of s ta te anxiety. Furthermore, c lear distinctions am ong

the sex-roles may not exist. The construct of sex-roles may hold

different m eanings for African American w om en or the criteria for

a sse ss in g their sex-roles m ay not be applicable. Unfortunately,

racial differences with regards to sex-roles have not been

extensively explored (Cook, 1985) although in one study, African

American wom en w ere observed to score in a less traditional m anner

than other w om en a s reported by Heilburn (1981). Block (1973) noted

cross-cultural differences in conceptions of masculinity and

femininity and specifically found that d ifferences betw een the sex es

w ere magnified in American child-rearing practices and greater

em phasis w as placed on competition a s com pared to several other

European cultural groups. The nurturant roles of being a paren t and

wife m ay be perceived differently. In this study, the num ber of

children and marital s ta tu s did not have any significant correlation

194

with levels of anxiety. S tudies of European-A m erican w om en have

shown m arriage to be strongly correlated with high levels of

psychological d istress (Gove, 1972; G ove & Tudor, 1973; Pearlin,

1977).

Age w as shown to have a significant inverse relationship with

trait anxiety. This result is typical of dem ographic d a ta provided by

governm ent figures (U.S. Dept of Health & Human Services, 1987).

Perhaps a s individuals grow older, they find them selves having fewer

situations to contend with or they begin to slow down their p ace of

life, settle in, and accep t life a s it is.

An additional finding w as that interaction betw een sex-role and

socioeconom ic sta tu s b ased on anxiety w as observed . W omen

classified a s feminine and who w ere in lower socioeconom ic levels

experienced m ore anxiety than women classified a s feminine and who

w ere in higher socioeconom ic levels. A possible explanation for this

result is that traits characteristic of femininity do not, in this

society, lead to higher financial gains, coping and functioning in the

world a t large, and a c c e ss to resources. While the attributes of

social support, nurturance, expressiveness a re important and highly

valued, they a re not the types of behaviors that foster a c c e ss to

higher paid positions and needed resources.

Traditional fem ale occupations have been th ose which utilize

nurturant behaviors, but pay less. Furtherm ore and related to this

d iscussion, w as the finding that educational level w as positively

related to socioeconom ic sta tu s and that masculinity sco res w ere

higher w hen the educational level w as higher. Feminine traits may

not be characteristic of those behaviors n ecessary to further one 's

education to obtain the higher paid positions or with the lack of

education, coupled with socialization p ro cesses , w om en continue to

utilize and endorse typical feminine behaviors. W hereas, m asculine

traits a re th o se that are necessary for facilitating su c c e ss and

ach ievem ent in one 's educational developm ent. Subjects with a

m asculine orientation may be conforming to how they can be

successfu l or their educational endeavors may be fostering a

m asculine orientation. S ince m any African American wom en a re in

lower paid positions in com parison to European-Am erican individuals,

one would expect higher levels of anxiety (Dohrenwend, 1969, 1981a).

As dem onstrated in this study, som e of the variability in levels of

anxiety of African American women in lower socioeconom ic levels

can be explained by their sex-role orientation.

196

.Con clusions

Within the limitations of this study, the following conclusions

can be m ade:

1. Sex-role orientation w as the b est descriptor of anxiety for

em ployed African American wom en in this study. W omen who held a

m asculine or androgynous orientation evidenced less s ta te and trait

anxiety. W omen who held a feminine orientation evidenced less state

anxiety.

2. W omen who held a feminine orientation evidenced less trait

anxiety d ependen t upon their socioeconom ic status. W omen who

described them selves a s feminine an d who had a higher socioeconom ic

level reported le ss trait anxiety than wom en w ho described

them selves a s feminine and who had a lower socioeconom ic level.

3. The masculinity sco re m ade the difference a s to w hether

subjects reported high or low levels of anxiety. Those who had high

masculinity sco res reported less anxiety than those who had low

masculinity sco res. For w om en who had high feminine scores, if they

also had high masculinity sco res (androgynous) they too reported less

anxiety.

4. No significant differences in perceived levels of s ta te and trait

anxiety w ere revealed betw een subjects with high or low Africentric

world view.

Implications

This study indicates the need for continuing research in the a re a

of Africentric paradigm s a s they relate to the psychological

functioning of African American women. A num ber of issu es

concerning instrum entation and theoretical concep ts have been raised

which will require further exam ination. The developm ent and

utilization of Africentric instrum ents for a sse ss in g behaviors and

beliefs a re relatively new and will require continued exam ination a s

they relate to subjects, settings, and their u se with instrum ents that

are not culturally specific and that do not m easu re deep structure

com ponents of the culture.

Many culturally specific s tresso rs of African American women

have been noted in this study. As professionals a ss is t employed

African American w om en, this will necessita te indepth knowledge

and sensitivity to African American culture in understanding their

s tre ss and coping. There is a need for differential interventions and

recognition of the sociopolitical and/or cultural context of mental

health problem s.

With the noted differences in s tre ss related to sex-role

orientation in this study, there is a need to consider differential

interventions within the culture of African American wom en a s

related to sex roles. Although, many African Amercian wom en may

have social supportive attributes, results of this study indicate that

em powering them with th o se behaviors which enab le them to function

and co p e in the world and obtain a c c e ss to resou rces may a ss is t in

reducing s tress.

R ecom m endations for Future R esearch

The nature of this research w as pioneering in conception and

scope since few studies have been undertaken in this a rea of African

American world view a s related to s tre ss . While the findings of this

research did not support the first hypothesis and partially supported

the seco n d hypothesis, it a roused several questions and provided many

insights for recom m endations to be m ade. Q uestions hopefully to be

responded to are:

W hat culturally specific factors do influence the s tress of

African American w om en?

How d o es the Africentric world view influence their s tre ss?

W hat a re effective w ays of a sse ss in g Africentric world view?

W hat a re effective w ays of a ssess in g the d eep structure of

culture?

Is it reasonab le to com pare instrum ents from one world view

with ano ther world view?

C an an em ic instrum ent be u sed with an etic instrum ent?

Do the sex roles identified by the dom inant society m ean the

sam e thing for African A m ericans?

W hat type of s tre ss instrum ents would more adequately tap the

experiences of African American w om en?

T hese issues su g g es t the need for further research.

In view of the limitations an d findings of this study the

following recom m endations w ere made:

1. B ased upon the finding th a t subjects' Africentric world view

sco res show ed little variability am ong the subjects, it is

recom m ended th a t this study be replicated utilizing a m ore

he terogeneous population. Gay (1981) s ta ted that selecting sam ples

using the very b est technique d o e s not alw ays guaran tee that they

will be representative of the population. Occasionally, by chance , a

sam ple will differ significantly from the population on som e

variable. Although a random sampling technique w as u sed in this

study, the sam ple may have been too hom ogeneous.

2. B ecau se the African Self-C onsciousness S cale w as developed

and norm ed on a college undergraduate population, it is recom m ended

th a t instrum entation continue to b e developed and exam ined for its

applicability ac ro ss varied African American populations.

Furtherm ore, it is recom m ended th a t instrumentation continue to be

developed with regard to investigations of m easurm ent theories or

stra teg ies applicable to African Americans.

200

3. W hen one considers the fact that the epidem iology of s tre ss

related sym ptom s am ong African American wom en is high

(Chavkin,1984; Kirk, 1986; Malveaux, 1984; W est, 1975), and the fact

that African American wom en do not always identify their situations

a s stressful (Malveaux, 1984), questions arise a s to w hat is perceived

a s s tre ss am ong African American wom en and are traditional

instrum ents for m easuring s tre ss levels applicable to them . It w as

su g g es ted in the study that African American wom en may be

experiencing s tre ss that is not tapped by current instrum ents. It is

recom m ended th a t u se of a culturally specific (emic) s tre ss m easu re

be u sed with African American women.

4. It is recom m ended, also, that further research of African

American wom en a s subjects continue to be em ployed. African

American wom en have tended to be subsum ed in research endeavors

under catego ries of women which a re usually European-Am erican

w om en or African Am ericans which are usually men. African

American wom en can benefit from information provided by research

which is specific to their concerns and needs.

5. B ecause so few studies of sex-role and the u se of sex-role

instrum ents have been u sed with African American sub jects (Cook,

1985), it is recom m ended that further research is n eed ed in this area .

Also, the flexibility with which African American wom en employ

m asculine and feminine sex-roles (Collier, 1982; Harrison & Minor,

1978) su g g ests investigation of the constructs of masculinity and

femininity a s they apply to African American women.

6. B ased on the fact that in this study, em ployed African

American women who w ere categorized a s feminine displayed higher

levels of trait anxiety w hen in lower socioeconom ic categories, it is

recom m ended that professionals working with em ployed African

American incorporate interventions that will em pow er them and that

will afford them opportunities to try out m ore flexible behaviors. In

addition, caree r objectives could be directed toward occupations that

a re not traditional for wom en but that provide more financial gains

and assisting African American wom en in accessing important

resou rces for doing so. The need for enhancing characteristics, such

a s independence, com petitiveness, world coping and functioning may

enab le women to m ore effectively cope with s tresso rs in their lives,

and thus experience lower levels of anxiety.

NOTES

1. Double consc iousness - Two warring souls in one dark body. African Am erican's own internal war with unreconciled strivings - being Black on one hand and being American on the other. Dubois, W.E.B. (1903). The Souls of Black Folks.

2. Although the results of num erous factor analytic investigations have generally supported the notion that s ta te and trait anxiety dim esions a re distinc, those investigations have also yielded evidence indicating the p resence of additional s ta te and trait anxiety dim ensions that reflect anxiety-absent and anxiety-present dim ensions. Consequently, Speilberger revised his two factor theory to reflect four oblique dim ensions. Brown & Duren, (1988). M easurem ent & Evaluation in Counseling and Development, Vol. 21.

APPENDIX A

Letter of Invitation to Participate in the Study

203

204T h e O h io S t a t e D e p a r tm e n t o f HumanU n i v e r s i t y S e r v i c e s E d u c a t io n

Dear P r o c p r r r i v o Pn r t 1 c I pan t , X65 RcUTlSGyGlT H a l l

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A f r i c a n A m e r i c a n women e n c o u n t e r s o u r c e s o f s t r e s s t h a t a r e s p e c i f i c t o t h e f r s r x nn d e t h n i c i t y .

A f r i c a n A m e r i c a n women n r e d e e p l y c o n c e r n e d n b c u t t h e i r l e v e l s o fs t r e s s d ue t o t lie a d v e r s e e f f e c t s on t h e i r h e a l t h .

R a t e s o f s t r e s s r e l a t e d d i n o a s c s / c o n d I e i o n s ( c a n c e r , h y p e r t e n s i o n , c h n l l t i s , d e p r e s s i o n , a l c o h o l i s m , s u i c i d e ) a r e h i g h smonft A f r i c a n Ame r i c a n women.

Numerous s t u d i e s h a v e e x am i n e d t i r e I n c i d e n c e , s o u r c e s , e f f e c t s , and r e m e d i a t i o n o f s t r e s s hut h o v e I n v e s t i g a t e d t h e s p e c i a l nnd s p e c i f i c s t r e s s o r s t h a ta f f e c t women a nd A f r i c a n A m e r i c a n s . F.von f e we r h a v e e x am i n ed f a c t o r s o f s t r e s namong A f r i c a n A m e r i c a n women. Yet n u me ro u s A f r i c a n Ame r i c a n women, due t o l i f e e v e n t s a nd c o n d i t i o n s , n r * a t r i s k f o r h i g h l e v e l s o f s t r e s s .

Your p a r t l c I p n t I o n In t h / s s t u d y w i l l p r o v i d e a d d i t i o n a l i n s i g h t s i n t o tHe s o u r c e s and r e m e d i a t i o n o f s t r e s s f o r A f r i c a n Ame r i c a n women a nd c o n t r i b u t e t o t h A l i t e r a t u r e t h a t i s s o l a c k i n g i n t h i n a r e a ,

I wo u l d I f k e t o p r o p o s e t o you t h e f o l l o w i n g :

a n o p p o r t u n i t y t o become a p a r t i c i p a n t w i t h o t h e r A f r i c a n Ame r i c a n women In a s t u d y w h i c h w i l l p r o v i d e eew i n f o r m a t i o n i n t o t h e l i t e r a t u r e on s t r e s s

a n o p p o r t u n i t y f o r you t o a s s e s s y o u r ovn> l e v e l o f 9 t r e f l 6 by r e c e i v i n g i e s u 11 s ant i 1 nf e r p r e t a t i n n o f y o u r s c o r e s

i n i iitm.il |*«o r e g a r d i n g s t r e s s a s i t r e l a t e * s p e c i f i c a l l y t o A f r i c a nAmor l e a n women by r e c e i v i n g , r e s u l t s o f t h e n t u d y when c o m p l e t e d

S h o u l d y»u d c « l r e t o t a k e a d v a n t a g e o f t h i s o p p o r t u n i t y and p a r t i c i p a t e In I he c r u d y , p l e a s e r e a d t h e d i r e c t i o n s a nd c o m p l e t e t h e e n c l o s e d q u e s t i o n n a i r e s . The r r l t e r l a f o r p a r t i c i p a t i n g I s a s f o l l o w s :

You must he 20 y e a r s o l d o r o l d e rempl oyed , e i t h e r f u l l o r p a r t - t i m enn A f r i c a n Amer i can woman (you i d e n t i f y y o u r e e l f a s b e l r g

Black)

Thank yon I

S i n c e r e l y ,

Q uA'— §£ajJLDr. Susan Sear* r r o f e a e o rEducat ion-Human S i r v i c a *

A n i t a P. .InbABon,Ph.D. Ca nd i da t e Edura t lon-lluman S e r v l e t *6 I A - 4 U - I 1 5 7

Program A r .a .: Counseling. School Psychology. Special Educe Too, Giflad Education. Adhabfltatton Services. Psycho*Fill ration r«mk-

CoRe<j* ol FducVion

APPENDIX B

Church A nnouncem ent

205

Announcement:

Anita P. Jackson , currently attending Ohio S tate University, is

working on a research project a s part of the requirem ents for her

degree. This research is about the s tre ss of African American women.

Som e of the wom en will be receiving a se t of questions to respond to

that relate to the study. W e would like to strongly encourage you to

fill out the questionnaires a s soon a s possible after receiving them

and return them by

giving them t o __________who will in turn give them to Mrs.

Jackson

dropping them in the mail

giving them to Mrs. Jackson when you s e e her in church

calling her w hen you have them com pleted

placing them in th e _____________ so they m ay be picked up

If you receive a se t of questionnaires to fill out and have any

specific questions regarding the study, you may call. The phone

num ber is listed in the packet. Also, you do not need to sign your

nam e on any of the questionnaires. That way confidentiality of

information will be assu red . Finally, there are som e benefits that

you will receive for participating in the study and those benefits and

how you may obtain them are listed in the packet too. So a s minister

of the church, I encourage you to participate in the study.

Minister of the Church

and

Anita P. Jackson

!

APPENDIX C

Directions for Filling Out the Q uestionnaire

208

209

D i r e c t i o n s Po r F i l l i n g Out The Q u e s t i o n n a i r e s

In a n s w e r i n g t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s , I wo u ld l i k e t o recommend t h e f o l l o w i n g :

1 . t h a t you n o t s p e n d a l o t o f t i m e on an y o n e q u e s t i o n , b u t r e s p o n d q u i c k l y w i t h t h e f i r s t r e a c t i o n t h a t comes t o mind,

2 . t h a t you t r y t o r e s p o n d t o a l l t h e q u e s t i o n s ,

3 . t h a t you n o t s i g n y o u r name on an y o f t h e q u e s t i o n ­n a i r e s t o a s s u r e y o u r s e l f t h a t c o n f i d e n t i a l i t y w i l l be m a i n t a i n e d ,

4 . t h a t yo u r e a d t h e d i r e c t i o n s f o r e a c h s e t o f q u e s t i o n s c a r e f u l l y b e f o r e b e g i n n i n g .

You w i l l h a v e d i f f e r e n t r e a c t i o n s t o and b e l i e f s a b o u t t h e q u e s t i o n s a s k e d . T h a t ' s o k . T h e r e a r e no r i g h t o r wrong a n s w e r s .S i m p l y mark t h e s t a t e m e n t t h a t b e s t e x p r e s s e s how you f e e l .

A d i c t i o n a r y may b e u s e d f o r a n y t e r m s t h a t a r e n o t u n d e r s t o o d i m m e d i a t e l y .

I f y o u w i s h t o h a v e t h e r e s u l t s r e t u r n e d t o y o u , t h e r e i s a p l a c e w h e r e y o u may w r i t e i n an a d d r e s s w h e r e you w o u ld l i k e t o h a v e t h e r e s u l t s s e n t .

Where t o R e t u r n t h e Q u e s t i o n n a i r e s A f t e r You C o m p le t e d Them

T h e r e may be o n e p e r s o n i n y o u r c h u r c h who may b e d e s i g n a t e d t o c o l l e c t t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s . I f s o , p l e a s e r e t u r n t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s t o t h a t p e r s o n .

I f no o n e i s d e s i g n a t e d t o c o l l e c t t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s , y o u may g i v e t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s t o me d i r e c t l y , i f I am i n a t t e n d a c e a t y o u r c h u r c h o r you may c a l l me and I w i l l p i c k them u p . ( 4 5 3 - 1 1 5 7 ) .

I f t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s a r e i n a s e l f - a d d r e s s e d s t a m p e d e n v e l o p e , s i m p l y d r o p t h e e n v e l o p e , w i t h t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s e n c l o s e d , i n t h e m a i l . S i g n b o t h c o n s e n t f o r m s and r e t u r n o n e .

210

S h o u l d y o u c h o o s e n o t t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e s t u d y , f o r t h e p u r p o s e s o f my r e s e a r c h , w o u l d y o u p l e a s e f i l l o u t t h e f o l l o w i n g i n f o r m a t i o n a nd r e t u r n i t i n t h e sam e m a n n e r t h a t i s s p e c i f i e d f o r r e t u r n i n g t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s . T h i s i n f o r m a t i o n i s e x t r e m e l y i m p o r t a n t f o r me t o h a v e .

I w i l l n o t b e p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n t h e s t u d y d u e t o t h e f o l l o w i n g r e a s o n ( s ) . P l e a s e c h e c k .

Too many q u e s t i o n n a i r e s / q u e s t i o n s

Q u e s t i o n s w e r e t o o d i f f i c u l t t o u n d e r s t a n d

Did n o t h a v e e n o u g h t i m e

C o u ld n o t make d e f i n i t e d e c i s i o n s a b o u t t h e q u e s t i o n s a s k e d

D o t i n t e r e s t e d i n t h e r e s u l t s o f t h e s t u d y

Do n o t l i k e t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n r e s e a r c h s t u d i e s

N o t i n t e r e s t e d i n h a v i n g my s t r e s s e v a l u a t e d

P e r s o n a l i l l n e s s

O t h e r ( p l e a s e s p e c i f y )

Thank You!

R e t u r n t h e c o n s e n t f o r m s e p a r a t e l y f r o m t h e p a c k e t s o a s t o m a i n t a i n c o n f i d e n t i a l i t y o f i n f o r m a t i o n .

APPENDIX D

Human Subjects' A cceptance Form

211

212BEUAvtoRAL An d SOCIAL S c iE tf cE SHUMAN S U BJ EC TS REVIEW COMMITTF.fc X O r l f c i h i iTIIF, OBI O STATP. U N I V E R S I T Y C o t U l n i l l R f c k e v { * «

R o n m r r t i I n v o l v i n g l l i imnn S u b J p i ' t n

ACTI ON OF TttE REVIEW COHHITTEE

W i l l i r o R n r d t o t l i e p m p l o y m n n t o f l i t imnn m i b . i r c t n 1H t h e p r o p o s e d r e s e s r c h p r o f n r o l :

r.HRon/ . ? w o r l d v i e w a n d s f .x - r o l e o r i e n t a t i o n a s t h e y rf .l a t E t o p e r c e i v e d

LEVELS OF S T RES S AMONC EMPLOYED AF RI CAN AMERICAN WOMEN,S u s a n .1. S e a r s , A n i t a P . . I n c l t a o n , Hu ma n S e r v i c e s E d u c a t i o n

TIIF. BEIIAVIORAL ANT SOCIAI . S C I E N C E S REVIEW COMMITTEE HAS TAfcEN TTlE FOLLOWING ACTI ON:

At TROVFO ________ DI SARPROVEO

X AF F ROVr n WITH CON D I T I ON S * WAIVER OF WRITTENCONSENT GRANTED

* C o n d i t i o n * m a t e d b y t h e C o m m i t t e e h a v e b e e n m e t b y t h e I n v e a t l f l A t o r f i n d , t h e r e f o r e , t h e p r o t o c o l I n APPROVED.

I t I n t h e r r n p o n n t b 1 1 1 1 y o f t h e p i I nr I p n 1 i n v e a t i g n t o r t o r e t a i n n r o p y n f e a c h n l p . n e d c o n s e n t f o r m f o r n t l e a n t f o u r ( A ) y e a r n h r v o n d t h e t e r m i n a t i o n o f t h e f l u b j e c t ' f lp a t t I r I p a t I o n I n t h e p r o p o n e d n r t l v l t y . S h o u l d t h e p r i n c i p a lI i i vor. r I r .i t o r l e a v e t h e U n i v e r s i t y , n l p n e d r o n n e n t f o r m n n r e t ol i e f i ,i in; I e i t r d t o t h e H u n a n S u b j e c t * P . e v l e v C o m m i t t e e f o r t h er ? ' j u l t e d r e f e n r l o n p e r i o d . T h i n a p p l l r . i t I o n b a n b e a n a p p r o v e d f »* r t h e p e r i o d o f o n e y e n . Yo u m e t e r . I n d e d t h a t y o u f lmnt p i o m p t l v r e p o r t mi ' / p r o M r m n t o ( l i e R e v i e w C.o t o 111 e o , n n d t h a t n o p r o c e d u r a l r h a n p e n m a y h e m a d e w i t h o u t p r i o r r e v i e w a n d a p p r o v a l . Yo u a t e n l n o r e m i n d e d t h a t t h e I d e n t i t y o f t h e r e s e a r c h p a r t i c i p a n t s m u s t b e k e p t c o n f i d e n t i a l .

D a t e : Ma r c h l f l , 1 9 8 f t _______________ S i g n e d : . _( C h a l f p t r s o n )

. r v w u ,

H S - 0 2 5 R ( R e v . 3 / 8 5 )

APPENDIX E

C onsent Form

213

214

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APPENDIX F

Dem ographic Information

215

P l e a s e f i l l i n t h e f o l l o w i n g .

Age _________

O c c u p a t i o n __________________________

S o c i o e c o n o m i c l e v e l ( c h e c k o n e !

(What you make a l o n e . Do n o t c o u n t y o u r h u s b a n d ' s inco me i f he w o r k s . )

1 . Under 5 , 0 0 0 _____________

2 . 5 , 0 0 0 - 1 0 , 0 0 0 ____________

3 . 1 0 , 0 0 0 - 1 5 , 0 0 0 __________

4 . 1 5 , 0 0 0 - 2 0 , 0 0 0 __________

5 . 2 0 , 0 0 0 - 2 5 , 0 0 0 __________

M a r i t a l S t a t u s ( c h e c k one )

1 . M a r r i e d ________

2 . S i n g l e _________

3 . S e p a r a t e d _____

Number o f C h i l d r e n _________

Number o f C h i l d r e n S t i l l i n t h e home

E d u c a t i o n a l L e v e l ( c h e c k o n e )

1 . L e s s t h a n h i g h s c h o o l _______

2 . High s c h o o l ______

3 . One y e a r o f c o l l e g e ________

4 . A s s o c i a t e D e g r e e ________

5 . Two y e a r s o f c o l l e g e _______

Have y o u b e e n t r e a t e d f o r h y p e r t e n s i

1 . Yes _________________ 2 . No

I f y o u w i s h t o h a g e r e s u l t s r e t u r n e d ,

A d d r e s s

216C o d e (i

6 . 2 5 , 0 0 0 - 3 0 , 0 0 0

7 . 3 0 , 0 0 0 - 3 5 , 0 0 0

8 . 3 5 , 0 0 0 - 4 0 , 0 0 0

9 . Over 4 0 , 0 0 0 _

4 . D i v o r c e d _____

5 . Widowed

6 . B a c h e l o r s D e g r e e __

7 . M a s t e r s D e g r e e _____

8 . M a s t e r s D e g r e e P l u s

9 . Ph .D . D e g r e e ________

1 0 . Trade s c h o o l ________

i w i t h i n t h e p a s t y e a r ?

i n c l u d e t h e f o l l o w i n g :

s t r e e t c i t y z i p

APPENDIX G

S ta te Trait Anxiety Scale

217

218S E L F -E V A L U A T I O N q u e s t i o n n a i r e

D e v e l o p e d b y C h a r l e s b . S p i c l b c r g c rin collaboration with

R. I., Cnisiich, R. lu sh c n c . P. R. Vngg, anil C. A. Jacobs

ST AI Form V-l

N a m e _____________________ D 4 t i ______________S ______

A g e ______________Sex: M ______ I7 - ] •_____

IM R P C T IO N S : A n u m b e r o f s i a ic m c n ls w h ich people h ave used lo dcsoiibo ihcnisclvcs a rc given b e low . Read ea c h s ta tement a n d llicn /,b lacken in ihc a p p r o p r i a t e circle l o Ihe r ighl o f (lie s ta lemonl lo indi- ^c ue how vou feel r /g /n now, tha t is, a! (his m o m en t. T h e ie m e n o right ° / , * ! , i>01 u i o i i r answers . D o nol spend lo o m u ch l im e on an y o n e sla lcn ien l f ^ ''> ' s,bin give ihc answ er which seems lo describe y o u r present feelings best. “V *0 'o

I I b c l i a im ................................................................................................................................................. (i) f t rf) f t

- I l e d sri i l l c ........................................................................................................................ (?) f t f t f t

I a m tense ............................................................................................................................ rt) f t (5) f t

I I l e d s l i a in e r l .......................................................................................................................... (I) f t f t (5f>

.■> I lee l a I e a s e ........................................................................................................................ f t f t f t f t

l> I l e e l irpsr |............................................................................................................................ ( J ft, ^ f t

i I a m p ie s e r i lK w m i s i n g u s e i p o s s ib le 11 l isfm | l in e s ................................... (?) f t f t rT

x I leel satisfied... ............................................................................................................... (!) f t f t ft

'I I l e e l f i i g h l e n e d ....................................................................................................... (?) f t ft, f t

I*1 I l e d 10111(01 ta b l e ......................................................................................................... f t f t ft, -f

II I l e e l s d l ( im f id e l l l ......................................................................................................... (?) f t -J) f t

I - I l e e l n e l s o n s ... ..................................................................................................................... <j) (b (?) f t

I !? I a m jillei \..... ............................................. ............................................................................ 0 lb 0 0

I I I l e e l in d e i is i se .................................................................................................................. 0 f t f t it)

l a I a m r e l a x e d ....................................................................................................................... ® f t f t If,

lb . I l e e l i n i i l e i l l ..................................................................................................................... f t ' f t (J) f t

17 I a m win t i e d ..................................................................................................................... f t f t (J) f t

IH. | l e d c o n fu se d ........................................................................................................... .. f t (J) f t f t

Id. I l e d s teady ................................................................................................................. f t f t f t f t

20. I f e d p leasan t.................................................................................................................. f t f t f t f t

® C onsulting Psychologists )Pr£S55 7 7 C o l le g e A v e n u e , Pa lo Alto . C a l i f o r n ia §4806

SELE-EVAEUATloN Q U E ST IO N N A IR ES t AI Form V-2

N : i m c ____________________________________________________________________t).1!C

OIRT;C'I I ONS: A miml ic r o f s t a t c mc n l s which peop le have used lo dcsc i ihe themse lves a t e given hclow. Read each s t a tement a nd then bl acken in t he a p p ro p r i a t e circle to (he right o f the s t a tement to in- ' <fr d i ca l c how y o u genera lly feel. T he r e a r c n o right or wr on g answers . D o '*>not spend t o o m u c h t ime o n a ny o n e s t a tement bu t give t he answer which seems to descr ibe h o w you genera l ly feel.

2 1. I l e d p l e a s a n t ......................................................................................................................

2 2 . I l e d n e r v o u s a n d r es t l es s ..........................................................................................

2 3 . I l e d sa t i s f i e d wi th m y s e l f ..........................................................................................

21 . I wish I m u l t i b e as h a p p v as o t h e r s s e e m t o b e .......................................

2 a . I l e d l ike a f a i l u r e .........................................................................................................

2li. I l e d t e s t e d ........................................................................................................................

2 7 I a m "r a i m . < oo l . a n d i oiler l e d " ............................................................................

2K I leel t h a t r III fu i l i l ies ai e p i l i n g u p so t ha t I r a n n u l m e n n i n e t h e m

2' • I w o i r \ l o o m m h m e i s o m e t h i n g t ha t r ca l lv d o e s n ' t m a t t e r ..................

31). I a m h a p p v ..........................................................................................................................

31 I h a \ e dis t in l i i ng t h o u g h t s ........................................................................................

3 2 . I lai k sell-< o u f i d e m e .....................................................................................................

3 3 . I f e d ser l i r e .........................................................................................................................

3 1 . I m a k e dc< i s i ons e a s i h ..................................................................................................

3 a . I l e d i n a d e r p i a l e ...............................................................................................................

3(i. I a m < n n l e n t .........................................................................................................................

3 7 S o m e m i i t n p o t t au t t h o u g h t t m i s t h r o u g h m y m i n d a n d I x i l h e r s n t c

3H. I t ake d i s a p p o i n t i u e u i s so k e e n l y t h a t I c i n ' t p u t t h e m o u t o f m y

m i n d ...........................................................................................................................................

3U. I a m a s t e a d v p e r s o n .....................................................................................................

■HI. I gel in a s t a l e ol t e n s i o n o r t u r m o i l a s I t h i n k o v e r m y r e c e n t e o t u e r r i s

a n d i n t e r e s t s .........................................................................................................................

( / '/6 .V . / , ; 7 7 i n ( . h w i t K I) . S f H r l f n t f i r t . I t t f n i u l i i i l i n n n f l l n \ f i \ ( «»i a n v f m t l i t i n ( h r r r o fi n u n \ f u t n n > u i ( I i o i i ( i n t f h t i f i r n n i w i n t i n f ( h r P u h t n h r r i t f i rn ht hi t r i i .

APPENDIX H

Schedule of R ecent Experience

220

PLEASE NOTE:

Copyrighted materials in this document have not been filmed at the request of the author. They are available for consultation, however, in the author’s university library.

These consist of pages:

2 2 1 -2 2 2 , Appendix H

22 4 -2 2 5 , Appendix I

2 2 7 -2 3 0 , Appendix J

UMI

A P P E N D IX I

Bern S e x -R o le Inventory

223

APPENDIX J

African Self C onsciousness Scale

226

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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