An Exploration of Racial Identity, Perceived Racism, and Religious Orientation as Predictors of Cultural Mistrust in African Americans

An Exploration of Racial Identity, Perceived Racism, and Religious Orientation as Predictors of Cultural Mistrust in African Americans
Author: Andrea Chantal Holman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2011
Genre:
ISBN:

Centuries of overt and covert segregation, oppression and discrimination against persons of African ancestry in America by their white counterparts have conditioned this marginalized group to be mistrustful of their relations with white Americans. This response, known as cultural mistrust, significantly contributes to negative help-seeking attitudes and underutilization of mental health services because the majority of practitioners are white (Grier and Cobbs, 1968; Whaley, 2001). This report will use multiple regression statistical analysis to explore racial identity, perceived racism, and religious orientation as predictors of cultural mistrust to propose ways practitioners can increase African-American utilization of mental health services. Gender differences in cultural mistrust will also be explored.

The Therapy Hour in Black and White

The Therapy Hour in Black and White
Author: Andrea Chantal Holman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2013
Genre:
ISBN:

This study explored interpersonal trust, racial identity, perceived racism, and religious orientation as predictors of preference for a Black counselor and cultural mistrust. The unique variance of interpersonal trust and cultural mistrust in predicting preference for a Black counselor was also explored. The relationship between cultural mistrust and interpersonal trust was tested to determine whether or not they are independent constructs. This study also examined the relationship between racial identity and religious orientation. Gender differences in religious orientation, cultural mistrust and preference for a Black counselor were examined. Previous studies provide support that cultural mistrust contributes to negative help-seeking attitudes and underutilization of mental health services. Researchers have identified racial identity and perceived racism as correlates to and/or predictors of cultural mistrust and preference for a Black counselor (Whaley, 2001). This study involved participants recruited in part from the Educational Psychology (EDP) Subject Pool at The University of Texas at Austin (UT). Participants were also recruited from five student organizations at UT. Participants completed the survey using an online survey tool or a paper copy of the survey. One stratum was used for selection of participants: students who racially identify as African-American or Black. Results of the study revealed interpersonal trust as a significant predictor of preference for a Black counselor. However, exploratory analyses indicated that cultural mistrust served as the sole predictor of Black counselor preference when seeking a counselor for dealing with racial concerns. Interpersonal trust, immersion-emersion anti-white racial identity attitudes (IEAW) and extrinsic religious orientation were significant predictors of cultural mistrust. Results also indicated a positive relationship between Internalization Multiculturalist (IMCI) racial identity attitudes and intrinsic religious orientation. A negative correlation was found to exist between intrinsic religious orientation and IEAW. High cultural mistrust levels were also positively associated with high IEAW attitudes. Additionally, a small, yet statistically significant negative relationship was found to exist between cultural mistrust and interpersonal trust. Cultural mistrust did not account for a significant amount of variance above that of interpersonal trust in predicting preference for a Black counselor. Finally, no mean sex differences were found among levels of Black counselor preference, cultural mistrust, and intrinsic or extrinsic religious orientation. Exploratory analyses also revealed a positive relationship between cultural mistrust and seven out of ten scenarios for Black counselor preference. Individuals with a preference for a Black counselor reported higher levels of cultural mistrust related to issues concerning: excessive worry/anxiety, drinking too much alcohol/using drugs, relationship problems, feelings of harassment/feeling threatened, sexual issues, racial issues, and difficulty controlling anger. Results of the study bear implications for understanding cultural mistrust and interpersonal trust as it relates to counselor preference. Implications for counselors are also discussed regarding the intersection of racial and religious identities. Limitations and future directions for research are also discussed.

African American Identity

African American Identity
Author: Jas M. Sullivan
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 472
Release: 2012-04-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0739171755

Jas M. Sullivan and Ashraf M. Esmail’s African American Identity: Racial and Cultural Dimensions of the Black Experience is a collection which makes use of multiple perspectives across the social sciences to address complex issues of race and identity. The contributors tackle questions about what African American racial identity means, how we may go about quantifying it, what the factors are in shaping identity development, and what effects racial identity has on psychological, political, educational, and health-related behavior. African American Identity aims to continue the conversation, rather than provide a beginning or an end. It is an in-depth study which uses quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods to explore the relationship between racial identity and psychological well-being, effects on parents and children, physical health, and related educational behavior. From these vantage points, Sullivan and Esmail provide a unique opportunity to further our understanding, extend our knowledge, and continue the debate.

An Exploration of the Relationship Between Racial Identity, Self-esteem, and Perceived Racist Events Among African Americans

An Exploration of the Relationship Between Racial Identity, Self-esteem, and Perceived Racist Events Among African Americans
Author: Laura L. Harris
Publisher:
Total Pages: 150
Release: 2010
Genre: African Americans
ISBN:

The present study examined the relationship between racial identity, self-esteem and perceived racist events among African Americans in a predominantly White Midwest city. A sample of 40 participants who self-identified as African, African American, Black or Mixed completed the Cross Racial Identity Scale, General Ethnic Discrimination, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and a demographic information sheet. The results suggest that most of the participants reportedly identified as the Cross Racial Identity sub-groups of Assimilation or Multiculturalist Inclusive, which are the first and final stages respectively. It appears as though those in this predominantly White Midwest city identifying with the dominant group serves as an artificial shield for perceived racist events.

Meaning-Making, Internalized Racism, and African American Identity

Meaning-Making, Internalized Racism, and African American Identity
Author: Jas M. Sullivan
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2016-09-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1438462972

Presents research on how variations in African Americans’ racial self-concept affects meaning-making and internalized oppression. Focusing on the broad range of attitudes Black people employ to make sense of their Blackness, this volume offers the latest research on racial identity. The first section explores meaning-making, or the importance of holding one type of racial-cultural identity as compared to another. It looks at a wide range of topics, including stereotypes, spirituality, appearance, gender and intersectionalities, masculinity, and more. The second section examines the different expressions of internalized racism that arise when the pressure of oppression is too great, and includes such topics as identity orientations, self-esteem, colorism, and linked fate. Grounded in psychology, the research presented here makes the case for understanding Black identity as wide ranging in content, subject to multiple interpretations, and linked to both positive mental health as well as varied forms of internalized racism. “With its impressive and varied research base, this is one of the most comprehensive books on the subject of racial identity.” — Scott L. Graves Jr., Duquesne University

The Influence of Cultural Mistrust, Religious Commitment, and Racial Identity on Help-seeking Attitudes in the African American Community

The Influence of Cultural Mistrust, Religious Commitment, and Racial Identity on Help-seeking Attitudes in the African American Community
Author: Matthew Woodfork
Publisher:
Total Pages: 107
Release: 2012
Genre:
ISBN:

It is widely documented that African Americans consistently underutilize mental health services (Hu, Snowden, Jerrell, & Nguyen, 1991; Snowden & Cheung, 1990; Takeuchi, Sue, & Yeh, 1995; Woodward, Taylor, Bullard, Neighbors, Chatters, & Jackson, 2008). The purpose of the current study was to investigate the influence of different cultural factors that may influence the help seeking attitudes of members of the African American community. Specifically, religious commitment, racial identity, and cultural mistrust were examined to determine the extent to which these factors predicted African American study participants attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. The Religious Commitment Inventory 10 (RCI 10; Worthington, Wade, Hight, Ripley, McCollough, Berry, Schmitt, Berry, Bursley, & O' Connor, 2003), Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS; Vandiver, Cross, Fhagen Smith, & Worrell, 2002; Worrell, Cross, & Vandiver, 2001), Cultural Mistrust Inventory (CMI; Terrell & Terrell, 1981), and Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help (ATSPPH 10; Fischer & Farina, 1995) were used to measure study variables. A personal data form also helped obtain demographic information about the study participants. Participants comprised of a community based sample of 138 African Americans. The results of multiple regression analysis indicated that scores lower on Internalized Multiculturalist Inclusive Subscale and higher on Cultural Mistrust Inventory and Pre Encounter Miseducation Subscale significantly predicted higher scores on Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale. Scores on Internalized Multiculturalist Inclusive explained the highest percentage of professional psychological help seeking attitudes followed by Cultural Mistrust and Pre Encounter Miseducation, respectively. These findings indicated that individuals who have a less multiculturally integrated sense of self, are more mistrusting of Whites, and hold more negative stereotypes about the Black community are less likely to perceive professional psychological services as beneficial. Implications of the study findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Communities in Action

Communities in Action
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 583
Release: 2017-04-27
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309452961

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

The Concept of Self

The Concept of Self
Author: Richard L. Allen
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2001
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780814328989

Institutional racism has had a major impact on the development of African American self-esteem and group identity. Through the years, African Americans have developed strong, tenacious concepts of self partially based on African cultural and philosophical retentions and as a reaction to historical injustices. The Concept of Self examines the historical basis for the widely misunderstood ideas of how African Americans think of themselves individually, and how they relate to being part of a group that has been subjected to challenges of their very humanity. Richard Allen examines past scholarship on African American identity to explore a wide range of issues leading to the formation of an individual and collective sense of self. Allen traces the significance of social forces that have impinged on the lives of African Americans and points to the uniqueness of their position in American society. He then focuses on the results from the National Survey of Black Americans-a national survey of African Americans on a wide range of political, social, and psychological issues-to develop a model of African self. Allen explores the idea of double-consciousness as put forth by W.E.B. DuBois against the more recent debates of Afrocentricity or an African-centered consciousness. He proposes a set of interrelated hypotheses regarding how African Americans might use an African worldview for the upliftment of Africans in the Diaspora. The Concept of Self will interest students and scholars of African American studies, sociology and population studies.