Michelle Norman

Department of

Psychology

Laura Coyle, Ph.D

McNair Program

Introduction

Background/Variables

Research Questions

Hypothesis

Methodology

Results

Discussion/Implications

Limitations

In the field of Psychology, most research

focuses on what predicts negative outcomes.

(e.g. depression and anxiety)

There is less focus on what factors predict

positive outcomes and how those who are

faced with obstacles function well.

This study focuses on resiliency, which is

thriving in the face of adversity.

It is imperative that more research is done

on resiliency related factors in stigmatized

groups such as African Americans.

Racism-related stress The stress that is related to encounters with racism

and discrimination

Which can lead to:

Poor physical and mental health

Low quality of life

Rejection Sensitivity Sensitivity to rejection based on group membership

(e.g. dominant group settings)

Africultural Coping strategies that African Americans use in order to

overcome their steady contact with racism and

adversity

Examples:

- Attending church/Prayer

- Helping others with their problems

- Celebrating events

- Spending more time with family and friends

Flourishing refers to a person’s “self-perceived” success in

important aspects of life which may include

relationships as well as self-esteem

Subjective Well-being consists of three main factors:

Positive affect-Positive emotions

Negative affect-Negative emotions

Life Satisfaction-focuses on one’s judgment

of their overall quality of life

1. Is racism-related stress associated with

subjective well-being/flourishing?

2. Is rejection sensitivity associated with

subjective well-being/flourishing?

3. Is racism-related stress associated with

rejection sensitivity?

4. Is Africultural coping associated with higher

levels of subjective well-being?

Higher levels of racism-related stressors and rejection sensitivity will be associated with lower levels of subjective well-being/flourishing.

Higher levels of racism-related stressors will be associated with higher levels of rejection sensitivity.

More use of Africultural coping strategies will be associated with higher levels of Subjective well-being.

Participants

Data was collected from 186 college students

87.5% females, 12.5% males, 1.1% unidentified

Ethnic Groups

96.2% identified as African Americans/Blacks, .5%

African American descent not born in U.S., 2.7%

African American Descent born U.S.

The mean GPA of students was 2.99

Students were recruited from undergraduate Psychology classes at FSU.

Data was gathered through an online survey.

Extra credit was offered.

Students signed consent form and there was no penalty for discontinuing participation in the study.

Correlational Design in which patterns of correlations are analyzed

Designed to measure feelings of desirable

and undesirable experience (Well-being, ill-being)

Gives the participant different types of

emotions and asked to rate how often they

experience each emotion (e.g. Happy, Sad)

Designed to assess “social-psychological

prosperity” from the participants point of

view

Respondents are to indicate their agreement

with each item

(e.g “I lead a purposeful and meaningful life”)

Designed to measure a person’s perception of

their quality of life as a whole

Participants are to indicate whether or not

they agree with a statement

(e.g. “I am satisfied with my life”)

Designed to measure racism-related stress

that African Americans come in contact with

due to constant encounters with racism

Respondents also indicate what type of

impact the experience had on them

(e.g. “While shopping at a store, or when

attempting to make a purchase, you were

ignored as if you were not a serious customer or

didn’t have any money, unfairly by whites/non-

blacks due to your race”)

Designed to measure individuals concern or

anxiety of “race-based” rejection

Respondents are to specify their “concern”

or “anxiety” that negative events will occur

based off of their race

(e.g. “How concerned or anxious would you be

that the guard might stop you because of your

race/ethnicity?)

Designed to measure the “culture-specific” coping strategies that African Americans use during daily stressful events

Four subscales

Cognitive/Emotional Debriefing- individual evaluates (cognitive) the level of risk and adversity in an effort to regulate emotional response to the situation

Spiritual Coping-uses prayer and religious practices to provide a sense of confidence.

Collective Coping- relying on family and social networks

Ritual Coping- rites and rituals are used

Respondents indicate how often they used the listed coping strategies

(e.g. “Got a group of family and friends together to help with the problem”)

Correlations, Means, and Standard Deviations (N = 186)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

1. Flourishing -2. Satis. w/ life .594** -3. PositiveAffect .643**.549** -4. NegativeAffect-.414* -.311**-.509** -5. AfriculturalCope.239**.219**.164 .028 -6. Cognitive/Emo .096 .129 .091 .102 .851** -7. SpiritualCope .336**.221**.241**-.098 .865**.572** -8. CollectiveCope .250**.230**.133 -.008 .839**.566** .678** -9. RitualCope .007 .109 -.015 .176* .514**.324** .406**.336** -10. RacismRelated.044 -.068 -.001 .177* .085 -.023 .150* .152* -.045 -11. Rejection - .088 .008 -.116 .186* .318* .240** .271**.280** .370**.370** -Sensitivity

M 48.50 24.87 19.78 15.34 73.98 28.04 21.06 20.72 4.15 57.69 9.94SD 6.36 6.33 3.47 4.38 17.03 7.31 6.07 5.31 2.12 19.23 7.27

Cronbach α .880 .866 .885 .840 .921 .853 .847 .807 .830 .916 .924

Is racism-related stress associated with

subjective well-being/flourishing?

Found that racism-related stress was not

associated with flourishing, satisfaction with

life, or positive affect.

R(FS)=.044, R(SWLS)=-.068, R(PA)=-.001 p<.01

Some evidence indicated that racism-related

stress was associated with higher negative

affect.

R(NA)=.186* p<.01

Is rejection sensitivity associated with

subjective well-being/flourishing?

Found that rejection sensitivity was not

associated with flourishing, satisfaction with

life, or positive affect.

R(FS)=-.088, R(SWLS)=.008, R(PA)=-.116 p<.01

Is racism-related stress associated with

rejection sensitivity?

There was a significant positive relationship

between each variable. Higher-levels of

racism-related stress were associated with

higher levels of rejection sensitivity.

R(RSQR)= .370** p<.01

Is africultural coping associated with higher levels of subjective well-being?

Significantly positively related to flourishing, satisfaction with life, and positive affect

R(FS)=.239**, R(SWLS)=.219**, R(PA)=.164* p<.01

Spiritual coping was significantly positively associated with flourishing, satisfaction with life, and positive affect.

R(FS)=.336**, R(SWLS)=.221**, R(PA)=.241** p<.01

Collective coping was significantly positively associated with flourishing and satisfaction with life.

R(FS)=.250**, R(SWLS)=.230**

Ritual coping was significantly positively associated with negative affect.

R(NA)=.176* p<.01

Best coping skills appear to be spiritual and

collective coping

A lot of counselors teach cognitive/emotional

strategies for dealing with mental health

Perhaps counselors need to expand on what

they teach or accept as mentally healthy

when working with African Americans.

Correlational/cross-sectional design cannot

establish cause and effect

May not apply to African American non-

college students

Self report among respondents may not be

accurate for the following reasons:

Temporary mood influences

Desire to “look good”

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Mentor: Dr. Laura Coyle

Director of McNair Program:

Dr. McNeill-Blue

Program Coordinator of McNair Program:

Ms.Shatasha Hamilton

Program Assistant of McNair Program:

Ms. Latoya Amaya

Dr. Okunbor

Fellow McNair Scholars, Faculty & Staff