Hope is central to the development of a strengths-based approach to understanding the lived experiences of formerly incarcerated Black men, given that the disproportionate and negative impact of the criminal legal system appears to overshadow the possibilities during reentry. Through qualitative interviews, we explored formerly incarcerated Black men’s conceptualization of hope using an abductive approach and thematic analysis. Moving between Snyder’s positive psychology model of hope and the psychology of radical hope framework in the 16 interviews, we identified three main themes and seven sub-themes. The three main themes were consistent with Snyder’s conceptualization of hope ( Goals , Self-Determination Processes , and Pathways ), three of the seven sub-themes were similar to aspects in Mosley et al.’s psychology of radical hope framework ( A Better Collective Future , Faith , and Meaning & Purpose ), and four sub-themes describe new pathways to hope and extend both the traditional and radical hope frameworks ( Awakening/Epiphany/Encounter , Community/Social Support , Personal Growth , and HEAL-th ). Limitations of these findings are discussed and implications for future research and practice are discussed.
Athletes feel pressure to conform to body ideals (e.g., lean/muscular) that can contribute to decreased body satisfaction (BS) and increased disordered eating (DE; e.g., restriction). DE research with Black men athletes, especially how psychosocial resources (e.g., self-compassion [SC]) may relate to reduced risk, has been limited. Therefore, we sought to close this gap. Among 373 Black men collegiate athletes, we documented BS and DE prevalence and determined the relationships among psychosocial resources (i.e., SC, social support [SS], and resilience) and BS and DE. Across five BS dimensions (e.g., weight and thinness), 61% to 71% reported being satisfied; prevalence was highest for body muscularity, though thinness, size/shape, and weight were the strongest predictors of DE. Further, higher levels of SC, SS, and resilience related significantly to BS. Only SC, SS, and BS had direct relationships to lower DE, though all resources related indirectly through athletes’ BS. Black men athletes’ BS is not uniform, though enhancing their self-compassion, support, and resilience may help them feel more satisfied overall and, ultimately, relate to food and eating in healthier ways.
Black adolescent girls experience “double-edged” forms of oppression at the intersection of racism and sexism through gendered racial microaggressions (GRM), or subtle insults rooted in both racial and gender bias. This qualitative study extends the taxonomy of GRM by centering Black girls’ voices and examining how gendered racism emerges during adolescence. Thirty-seven Black girls ages 13–18 (M = 16, SD = 1.2) were recruited from community organizations, schools, and youth programs across the United States. Using thematic analysis, we identified three themes: (1) colorism and negative assumptions of character, (2) the Mammy stereotype and vicarious learning of expected caregiving roles, and (3) awareness of gendered racism and its psychological consequences. Findings suggest that Black girls’ experiences of GRM are shaped not only by broad patterns of objectification, marginalization, and stereotype projection, but also by more nuanced intersectional processes tied to skin tone, learned caregiving expectations, and the emotional burden of recognizing gendered racism. These findings refine conceptualizations of GRM and offer implications for researchers, educators, and practitioners supporting Black adolescent girls.
This review discusses the major concepts and themes addressed in Wade Noble’s Skh to Skh: Evolutionary Genesis as an African-centered Research Method. The review also attempts to link Dr Nobles’ ideas with that of other African-centered thinkers who have examined culturally appropriate methods within African-centered psychology.
Black men’s community violence exposure (CVE) is often framed through deficit-based lenses that obscure adaptation, meaning-making, and resilience. Using a qualitative descriptive design grounded in a social constructivist epistemology and guided by the Social Ecological Model, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 Black men aged 22–34 living across U.S. regions. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis, which generated four themes: Keeping My Head on a Swivel: Hypervigilance and Safety; Violence Is Everywhere; Community Protective Factors; and Creating Resiliency in the Face of Adversity. Participants described hypervigilance as a form of adaptive safety work that carried psychological and embodied costs. They also described violence as pervasive across neighborhoods, schools, and policing encounters. Protective factors included maternal figures, faith and spirituality, and education, while resilience was supported through emotion regulation, meaning-making, future orientation, mentoring, and strengthened relationships. Findings conceptualized CVE as an ecological condition rather than a discrete event and support Black psychology–informed assessment, intervention, and prevention that distinguish adaptive vigilance from pathology and strengthen protective systems.
Many Black people report feeling mentally drained from experiencing anti-Black racism across all life domains. This emotional burden has recently been referred to as “Black fatigue.” The aim of this qualitative study is to describe the phenomenon of Black fatigue and the experiences underlying the construct among Black people in Ontario, Canada, aged 16 and older. Semi-structured qualitative interviews ( N = 22) were conducted and analyzed using thematic analysis. Four major themes were identified from the findings: (1) recurring experiences with anti-Black racism, (2) the fatigue of individual coping, (3) more intersectional oppression, more fatigue, and (4) the mental and emotional impact of Black fatigue. Individual forms of coping in response to racism also contributed to experiences of Black fatigue such as outer-directed active coping strategies (e.g., proving self to others, working harder) and inner-directed passive coping strategies (e.g., ruminating, tolerating). Future research is needed to explore the pervasiveness of Black fatigue in the lives of Black people to inform future preventative interventions.
This study examined how institutional and interpersonal racial-related stressors (IRRS), John Henryism (JH), and campus engagement shape the psychological and academic outcomes of 298 Black college students. Grounded in the biopsychosocial model of racism, we explored whether JH mediates the relationship between IRRS and student outcomes, and whether campus engagement moderates these associations. Findings revealed that higher IRRS was linked to increased depressive and anxious symptoms, and lower academic efficacy and GPA. JH partially mediated the relationship between IRRS and academic outcomes, suggesting it may function as a double-edged sword—both promoting resilience and contributing to stress. Campus engagement, while positively associated with some outcomes, did not significantly moderate the effects of IRRS. These findings underscore the complex ways Black students navigate racial stress and coping within higher education and highlight the importance of culturally specific supports to promote well-being and academic success.
Black parents have long nurtured their daughters' dreams through affirmation, advocacy, and culturally rooted care. Yet, little research has examined how Black parents' hopes for Black girls reflect political imagination. Drawing on sociopolitical development and the Black radical tradition, this study explored how Black parents imagined more just futures for their daughters and for Black girls more broadly. Using Black storytelling and quilting as qualitative methodologies, we analyzed semi-structured interviews with 62 Black parents in the United States (39 mothers, 23 fathers; ages 22-67) and represented findings through poetic renderings. Four poems portrayed Black girls as deserving beauty and bodily autonomy, full humanity and voice, leadership and opportunity, and loving community care. Across themes, parents named structural harms shaping Black girls' lives, including stereotypes, adultification, unequal recognition, and barriers to opportunity, while articulating expansive visions of safety, joy, dignity, and flourishing. These findings position Black parenting as a site of political imagination where storytelling, cultural memory, and communal care help Black girls interpret injustice and imagine lives beyond it.
Contextualizing race-based differences in prostate cancer (PrCA) outcomes among African American male adults aged >= 60 years who were former military personnel was studied during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews, the authors sought to elucidate the complexities of intersecting vulnerabilities experienced by this particular male-ethnic group through an intersectionality framework. Utilizing Sol & oacute;rzano and Yosso's method of counter-storytelling, along with Polkinghorne's two stages of narrative configuration, the authors examined how multiple, compounding forms of inequality can create obstacles to health equity while also challenging existing social systems to advance the cause of social justice in health outcomes for African American male adults aged >= 60 years who were former military personnel and are PrCA survivors. Two primary themes emerged from the qualitative narratives: (1) Advocacy Through Education as a Communal Obligation and (2) The Private Struggle: Post-Treatment Experiences and Quality of Life. This formative study will support the justification for establishing a praxis-oriented framework for members of this historically excluded group. This article provides a culturally responsive frame for mental health and public health praxis and research. Orienting a justice-informed lens becomes essential to affect change at the local, state, and federal levels.
We examined the relationship between two types of self-esteem (global self-esteem and collective self-esteem) and Black racial identity based on the expanded nigrescence theory (NT-E). Black college students (N = 344) responded to the Cross Racial Identity Scale and measures of global and collective self-esteem. To provide a more nuanced assessment of Black racial identity using a person-centered approach, cluster analysis identified six racial cluster patterns. Using a variable-centered approach via 1-way ANOVA, individuals grouped in the self-hating cluster were found to have lower global self-esteem scores than those grouped under other racial attitude clusters. For collective self-esteem, MANOVA and descriptive discriminant analyses showed individuals in the assimilated cluster had lower scores on the salience of race compared to those grouped in other racial attitude clusters. These findings replicated the relationship between nigrescence and global self-esteem and extended the relationship between nigrescence and collective self-esteem. Using both person- and variable-centered approaches highlights the complexity of understanding and interpreting racial identity in relation to other real-world variables, such as psychological functioning.
The complexity and fluidity of racial identities in contemporary South Africa are but one symptom of the historical trauma caused by decades of Apartheid. The racial hierarchies created by the white minority Afrikaners left an indelible mark on the psyches of all South Africans who experienced it firsthand. This study, however, seeks to examine the impact of Apartheid-related historical trauma on the so-called "Born Free" generation of South Africans-those born after the demise of Apartheid in a democratic South Africa. Specifically, this study examined the relationship between Zulu identity, social connectedness (Ubuntu), and predictors of subjective well-being in Black South Africans who identify as Zulu born after 1996 (Born Free generation). The findings supported our hypothesis that Zulu identity would form a protective factor thereby facilitating positive psychological well-being among Born Free Black South African Zulus. Findings from this study highlight the need for the implementation of mental health interventions that recognize the legacy of the historical trauma of Apartheid and leverage the protective role of cultural identity and other culture-specific strengths.
This study investigated the relationship between the impostor phenomenon (IP) and mental health among Black students in different institutional contexts-specifically, whether they attend a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) or a Predominantly White College or University (PWCU). The study investigated whether Black students' experiences of impostorism were moderated by racial identity and cultural congruity. Data were collected through a web-based survey of 325 Black undergraduate and graduate students. There were no significant differences in IP between HBCU and PWCU students. While racial centrality did not emerge as a significant moderator, cultural congruity significantly moderated the association between impostor feelings and mental health. The results suggest that impostor feelings are more damaging to Black students' mental health when they experience higher cultural congruity, while having little effect when they experience lower cultural congruity. These findings underscore the importance of considering contextual and institutional factors when addressing the impostor phenomenon in research and practice aimed at supporting the well-being of Black students.
This research aimed to explore and describe resilience qualities in Black South African families living with a family member diagnosed with schizophrenia in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, South Africa. Through a qualitative, explorative-descriptive research design, seven purposefully sampled families were included. Data were collected through semi-structured family interviews and thematically analyzed. Three main themes were identified: experiences of living with a family member diagnosed with schizophrenia, challenges experienced by caregivers, and family strengths and resources used to cope. Findings are essentially emblematic of the general challenges experienced by family members living with a member diagnosed with schizophrenia and resilience qualities, such as family belief system, economic resources, access to disability grants, and Ubuntu. The findings highlight the need for family and community interventions and programs to address challenges faced by families caring for individuals with schizophrenia while also identifying existing resilience qualities and resources, both within and outside the family unit, that families can employ and that can help to inform the development of such programs and interventions.
Despite extensive research on Black racial identity, significant gaps remain in understanding the structure of race-related ideological views and their impact on psychosocial functioning. This study examined these associations across two samples of Black American adults (Ns = 578 and 353). In Study 1, exploratory factor analysis identified latent factors underlying widely used measures of racial ideology. Study 2 evaluated the structural validity of these factors using confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM). Study 3 examined their links to demographics, psychological well-being, interpersonal functioning, and sociopolitical activism. ESEM models provided superior fit, yielding four ideology factors: Nationalism, Afrocentricity, Centrality, and Critical Consciousness. Nationalism and Afrocentricity were positively related to depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms. Nationalism was also associated with greater friendship racial homophily. Centrality and Critical Consciousness showed no significant associations with psychological well-being. All four ideologies were positively associated with sociopolitical activism, particularly Nationalism and Critical Consciousness. This research advances the understanding of Black racial identity ideologies to inform interventions to enhance the well-being and civic engagement of Black individuals.
Research has shown that internalization of the Strong Black Woman (SBW) Schema is associated with negative psychological outcomes, such as depression and anxiety. The current study aimed to determine the ubiquity of the SBW Schema by exploring the extent to which Black women who endorse schema characteristics do so consistently or differently across demographic characteristics including age, income level, marital status, and motherhood status. Black women of diverse backgrounds (N = 222) were surveyed and statistical analyses revealed no significant differences in endorsement of SBW schema characteristics based on age (millennials compared to older generations), marital status, and motherhood status. However, findings showed that Black women with higher levels of income were less likely to endorse a SBW Schema characteristic compared to those with lower levels of income. This exploratory research supports existing literature that suggests the SBW Schema is embraced by Black women of diverse backgrounds and clarifies the importance of socioeconomic status as it pertains to SBW endorsement. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
Structural and social-psychological factors, including race-related stressors such as discrimination and stereotype threat, contribute to the underrepresentation of African American college students in STEM by thwarting students’ motivation and serving as push-out factors. Academic burnout and low momentum-state inertia (LMSI) are two forms of motivation that may develop in response to perceived discrimination and stereotype threat. The present study examined the growth trajectories of burnout and LMSI as a function of race-related stressors using the integrated process and motivational experiences models as guiding theoretical frameworks. Longitudinal data were collected from 500 African American students majoring in STEM disciplines at an Historically Black College/University (HBCU) and a predominantly White institution (PWI). Results of unconditional latent growth curve analyses showed that both academic burnout and LMSI increased over time. Results of conditional latent growth curve analyses revealed that perceived discrimination was not significantly associated with increases in burnout or LMSI. Stereotype threat was instead associated with higher academic burnout and LMSI initially, but decreasing burnout and LMSI over time.
