Perceived race-based discrimination, employment status, and job stress in a national sample of Black women: Implications for health outcomes.

Abstract

Previous research has not systematically examined the relationship of perceived race-based discriminations to labor force participation or job related stresses-problems experienced by Black women. The present study investigated the relative contributions of perceived race-based discriminations and sociodemographic characteristics to employment status and job stress in a national probability sample (the National Survey of Black Americans; J. S. Jackson, 1991) of Black women in the United States. Logit and polychotomous logistic regression analyses revealed that Black women's current employment status was best explained by sociodemographic measures. In contrast, the combination of perceived discrimination and sociodemographics differentially affects patterns of employment status and perceived job stress in the work environment of Black women. Implications of these findings for the health of African American women are discussed.As greater numbers of women maintain steady employment and move into nontraditional occupations, more attention is being paid to social and psychological effects resulting from their participation in the labor force. The impact of work on marriage, family, mental health status, life satisfaction, and, in particular, job-related stress has been an important area of study (Crohan, Antonnucci, Adelmann, & Coleman, 1989). Historically, Black 1 women have constituted a proportionally large share of the labor force (Evans & Herr, 1991;Malveaux & Wallace, 1987). Much of the research on working Black women, however, has concerned itself with objective labor market indices (e.g., rates of participation, occupation, and salary equity). Little research has examined the psychosocial aspects of perceptions of gender and race discrimination in the labor market experiences of Black women, particularly as they affect entry into the labor force, participation rates (employment status), and job stress in the work environment as a function of perceptions of racial-ethnic discrimination.Studies examining work and the quality of life consistently document the negative impact of work-related discrimination on women and ethnic group members (Ulbrich, Warheit, & Copyright 1996 by the Educational Publishing Foundation Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Vickie M. Mays, University of California, Los Angeles, 405 Hilgard Avenue, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, California 90095-1563. Electronic mail may be sent via Internet to mays@psych.sscnet.ucla.edu. 1 The terms African American and Black are used interchangeably throughout this article to refer to Americans who share a common ancestral descent from people historically indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa. NIH Public AccessAuthor Manuscript J Occup Health Psychol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2013 June 13.Published in final edited form as:J Occup Health Psychol. 1996 July ; 1(3): 319-329. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript Zimmerman, 1989). Disparities between the occupational ...

Depressive Distress and Prevalence of Common Problems Among Homosexually Active African American Women in the United States

“…Second, a number of studies suggest that African Americans in general are significantly less likely than other groups to seek and to receive adequate care (Smedley, Stith, & Nelson, 2002;Mays, Cochran, & Sullivan, 2000;Alegria, Canino, Rios, Vera, Calderon, Rusch & Ortega, 2002;Matthews & Hughes, 2001;Mays, Yancey, Cochran, Weber, & Fielding, 2002;Mays, Coleman, & Jackson, 1996;Snowden, 2003Snowden, ,1999Sue, Fujino, Hu, Takeuchi, & Zane, 1991). Partly this is due to disparities in access to, utilization of, and satisfaction with mental health services (Snowden, 2003;Kohn & Hudson, 2002;.…”

Race, Race-Based Discrimination, and Health Outcomes Among African Americans

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“…Invoking McEwen's model extends the scope of stressors (challenges) in Massey's model to include environmental stressors of work, home, social relationships, major life events, traumas, and abuses (McEwen 2000). McEwen's model could include racially discriminatory behavior in social interactions as stressors that send the body into allostasis (Brondolo et al 2005, Mays & Cochran 1998, Mays et al 1996.…”

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