This study examined the effects of three types of group consciousness among African American women (ethnic, feminist, and womanist) on prejudice attributions and appraised personal significance (centrality) of a negative intergroup event. African American female college students (N = 123) imagined themselves in an audiotaped scenario in which they overheard two European American male classmates make negative evaluations of them. The scenario provided no cause for the negative evaluations and no references to race or gender. Multiple regression analyses revealed that higher ethnic and womanist consciousness were related to increased prejudice attributions and greater centrality appraisals (p < .05), while feminism had no effect. Results suggest that womanist consciousness may be more relevant than traditional feminist consciousness in predicting African American women's perceptions of prejudice.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ArmsteadC.A.LawlerK.A.GordenG.CrossJ.GibbonsJ. (1989). Relationship of racial stressors to blood pressure responses and anger expression in black college students. Health Psychology, 8(5), 541–556.
2.
Banks-WallaceJ. (2000). Womanist ways of knowing: Theoretical considerations for research with African American women. Advances in Nursing Science, 22(3), 33–45.
3.
BargadA.HydeJ. S. (1991). Women's studies: A study of feminist identity development in women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 15(2), 181–201.
4.
BellE. L. (1992). Myths, stereotypes, and realities of black women: A personal reflection. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 28(3), 363–376.
5.
BenokraitisN. V. (Ed). (1997). Subtle sexism: Current practice and prospects for change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
6.
BreinlingerS.KellyC. (1994). Women's responses to status inequality: A test of social identity theory. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18(1), 1–16.
7.
BromanC. L. (1997). Race-related factors and life satisfaction among African Americans. Journal of Black Psychology, 23, 36–49.
8.
BrownL. M.JohnsonS. D. (1999). Ethnic consciousness and its relationship to conservatism and blame among African Americans. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 29(12), 2465–2480.
9.
BrownW. (1931). The nature of race consciousness. Social Forces, 10, 90–97.
10.
BurnS. M.AboudR.MoylesC. (2000). The relationship between gender social identity and support for feminism. Sex Roles, 42(11–12), 1081–1089.
11.
CampbellA. (1971). White attitudes toward black people. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research.
12.
ColeE. R.ZuckerA. N.OstroveJ. M. (1998). Political participation and feminist consciousness among women activists of the 1960s. Political Psychology, 19(2), 349–371.
13.
CollinsP. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York: Routledge.
14.
Comas-DiazL. (1991). Feminism and diversity in psychology: The case of women of color. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 15(4), 597–609.
15.
CrockerJ.MajorB. (1989). Social stigma and self-esteem: The self-protective properties of stigma. Psychosocial Review, 96(4), 608–663.
16.
CrockerJ.VoelklK.TestaM.MajorB. (1991). Social stigma: The affective consequences of attributional ambiguity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60(2), 218–228.
17.
CrosbyF. J.PufallA.SnyderR. C.O'ConnellM.WhalenP. (1989). The denial of personal discrimination among you, me, and all the other ostriches. In CrawfordM.GentryM. (Eds.), Gender and thought: Psychological perspectives (pp. 79–99). New York: Springer-Verlag.
18.
CrossW. E.Jr. (1971). The negro-to-black conversion experience: Toward a psychology of black liberation. Black World, 20, 13–27.
19.
DavisA. (1981). Women, race, and class. New York: Random House.
20.
DavisonG. C.NavarreS. G.VogelR. S. (1995). The articulated thoughts in simulated situations paradigm: A think-aloud approach to cognitive assessment. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 4(1), 29–33.
21.
DionK. L. (1975). Women's reactions to discrimination from members of the same or opposite sex. Journal of Research in Personality, 9, 294–306.
22.
DionK. L.EarnB. M.YeeP. H. (1978). The experience of being a victim of prejudice: An experimental approach. International Journal of Psychology, 13, 197–214.
23.
DovidioJ. F.GaertnerS. L. (1998). On the nature of contemporary prejudice: The causes, consequences, and challenges of aversive racism. In EberhardtJ.FiskeS. (eds), Confronting racism: The problem and the response (pp. 3–32). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
24.
DowningN. E.RoushK. L. (1985). From passive acceptance to active commitment: A model of feminist identity development for women. Counseling Psychologist, 13(4), 695–709.
25.
DuggerK. (1988). Social location and gender-role attitudes: A comparison of black and white women. Gender and Society, 2(4), 425–448.
26.
DurantT. D.SparrowK. H. (1997). Race and class consciousness among lower- and middle-class Blacks. Journal of Black Studies, 27(3), 334–351.
27.
EaglyA. H.MladinicA. (1989). Gender stereotypes and attitudes toward women and men. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 15, 543–558.
28.
EssedP. (1991). Understanding everyday racism. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
29.
FeaginJ. R. (1991). The continuing significance's of race: Antiblack discrimination in public places. American Sociological Review, 56, 101–116.
30.
FischerA. R.ShawC. M. (1999). African Americans' mental health and perceptions of discrimination: The moderating effects of racial socialization experiences and self-esteem. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 46(3), 395–407.
31.
FiskeS. T.TaylorS. E. (1991). Social cognition. San Francisco: McGraw-Hill.
32.
FrazierE. F. (1957). Black bourgeoisie. New York: Macmillan.
33.
FreseM. (1999). Social support as a moderator of the relationship between work stressors and psychological dysfunctioning: A longitudinal study with objective measures. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 4(3), 179–192.
34.
FujinoD. A.KingK. R. (1994). Toward a model of womanist identity development. Presentation at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, CA.
35.
FujinoD. A.KingK. R.ChangC. E.QuirozB.WaltersK. L. (1994). Towards a model of womanist identity: The complexities of integrating ethnic and feminist identities. Unpublished manuscript, University of California at Los Angeles.
36.
GaertnerS. LDovidioJ. F. (1986). The aversive form of racism. In DovidioJ.F.GaertnerS.L. (Eds.), Prejudice, discrimination, and racism (pp. 61–90). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
37.
GiddingsP. (1984). When and where I enter: The impact of black women on race and sex in America. New York: Bantam Books.
38.
Glass Ceiling Commission, U.S. Department of Labor. (1995). Good for business: Making full use of the nation's human capital. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
39.
GreenP. (1979). The feminist consciousness. The Sociological Quarterly, 20(3), 359–374.
40.
GruenR. J.FolkmanS.LazarusR. S. (1988). Centrality and individual differences in the meaning of daily hassles. Journal of Personality, 56(4), 743–762.
41.
GurinP.MillerA. H.GurinG. (1980). Stratum identification and consciousness. Social Psychology Quarterly, 43(1), 30–47.
42.
GurinP.TownsendA. (1986). Properties of gender identity and their implications for gender consciousness. British Journal of Social Psychology, 25, 139–148.
43.
HackerH. M. (1975). Class and race differences in gender roles. In DubermanL. (Ed.), Gender and sex in society. New York: Praeger.
44.
HarrisD. (1999). Sojouner Truth, 19th century representative of womanism. In GatesH.L.McKayN. (Eds.), The Norton anthology of African American literature. New York: Norton.
45.
HartsoughW. R.FontanaA. F. (1970). Persistence of ethnic stereotypes and the relative importance of positive and negative stereotyping for association preferences. Psychological Reports, 27, 723–731.
46.
HelmsJ. E. (Ed.). (1990). Black and white racial identity: Theory, research, and practice. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
47.
Henderson-KingD.StewartA. J. (1997). Feminist consciousness: Perspectives on women's experience. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 23(4), 415–426.
48.
HenleyN. M.MengK.BrianD.McCarthyW. J.SockloskieR. (1998). Developing a scale to measure the diversity of feminist attitudes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 22, 317–348.
49.
hooks, b. (1981). Ain't I a Woman?Boston: South End Press.
50.
hooks, b. (1984). Feminist theory: From margin to center. Boston: South End Press.
51.
hooks, b. (1989). Talking back: Thinking feminist, thinking black. Boston: South End Press.
52.
hooks, b. (2000). Feminism is for everybody: Passionate politics. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.
53.
HunterA. G.SellersS. L. (1998). Feminist attitudes among African American women and men. Gender & Society, 12(1), 81–100.
54.
JeffriesV.RansfordH. E. (1980). Social stratification. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc.
55.
JosephG. I.LewisJ. (1981). Common differences: Conflicts in black and white feminist perspectives. Garden City, NY: Anchor.
56.
KalmussD.GurinP.TownsendA. L. (1981). Feminist and sympathetic feminist consciousness. European Journal of Social Psychology, 11(2), 131–147.
57.
KaneE. W. (1992). Race, gender, and attitudes toward gender stratification. Social Psychology Quarterly, 55(3), 311–320.
58.
KarlinsM.CoffmanR. L.WaltersG. (1969). On the fading of social stereotypes: Studies in three generations of college students. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 13, 1–16.
59.
KastenbaumR. (1991). Racism and the older voter? Arizona's rejection of a paid holiday to honor Martin Luther King. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 32(3), 199–209.
60.
KimmelE. B.GarkoM. G. (1995). Ethnic diversity in the experience of feminism: An existential phenomenological approach. In LandrineH. (Ed.), Bringing cultural diversity to feminist psychology: Theory, research, and practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
61.
KingK. R. (1991). The relationship of racial identity orientation to minority student stress and psychological health in African American students. Unpublished master's thesis, University of California at Los Angeles.
62.
KingK. R. (1993). Preliminary development of an ethnic identity scale: The ethnic identity orientation measure. Unpublished manuscript, University of California at Los Angeles.
63.
KingK. R. (1998). The role of multiple group identities in the experience of discrimination: African American women's attributions to prejudice. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences & Engineering, 59(9-B), Mar 1999, 5167.
64.
KingK. R.FujinoD. A. (1994). Measuring integrated identities: Preliminary development of the womanist identity scale. Presentation at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, CA.
65.
KlonisS.EndoJ.CrosbyF.WorellJ. (1997). Feminism as life raft. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21(3), 333–345.
66.
KlonoffE. A.LandrineH. (1996). The schedule of sexist events: A measure of lifetime and recent sexist discrimination in women's lives and a study of its negative physical and mental health consequences. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 19, 439–472.
67.
KriegerN. (1990). Racial and gender discrimination: Risk factors for high blood pressure?Social Science Medicine, 30(2), 1273–1281.
68.
LandrineH. (1985). Race x class stereotypes of women. Sex Roles, 13, 65–75.
69.
LandrineH.KlonoffE. A. (1996). The schedule of racist events: A measure of racial discrimination and a study of its negative physical and mental health consequences. Journal of Black Psychology, 22, 144–168.
70.
LandrineH.KlonoffE. A.AlcarazR.ScottJ.WilkinsP. (1995). Multiple variables in discrimination. In LottB.MalusoD. (Eds.), The social psychology of interpersonal discrimination (pp. 183–224). New York: The Guilford Press.
71.
La RueL. (1976). The black movement and women's liberation. In CoxS. (Ed.), Female psychology: The emerging self. Chicago: Science Research Associates.
72.
LazarusR.FolkmanS. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer Publishing Co.
73.
LazarusR.SmithC. A. (1988). Knowledge and appraisal in the cognition-emotion relationship. Cognition & Emotion, 2(4), 281–300.
74.
LissM.HoffnerC.CrawfordM. (2000). What do feminists believe?Psychology of Women Quarterly, 24(4), 279–284.
75.
LykesM. B. (1983). Discrimination and coping in the lives of black women: Analyses of oral history data. Journal of Social Issues, 39(3), 79–100.
76.
MartinJ. K.Nagayama HallG. C. (1992). Thinking black, thinking internal, thinking feminist. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 39(4), 509–514.
77.
MazerD. B.PercivalE. F. (1989). Ideology or experience?: The relationships among perceptions, attitudes, and experiences of sexual harassment in university students. Sex Roles, 20(3/4), 135–147.
78.
McConahayJ. B. (1986). Modern racism, ambivalence, and the Modern Racism Scale. In DovidioJ.GaertnerS. (Eds.), Prejudice, discrimination, and racism (pp. 91–125). Orlando, FL: Academic Press, Inc.
79.
McIntoshP. (1988). White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. In RothenbergP.S. (Ed.), Race, class, and gender in the United States: An integrated study (5th ed.) (pp. 163–168). New York: Worth Publishers.
80.
MillerF. S. (1988). Network structure support: Its relationship to the psychosocial development of black females. The Journal of Black Psychology, 15(1), 17–39.
81.
NkomoS. M.CoxT. J. (1989). Gender differences in the upward mobility of black managers: Double whammy or double advantage?Sex Roles, 21, 825–839.
82.
PeacockE. J.WongP. P. (1990). The stress appraisal measure (SAM): A multidimensional approach to cognitive appraisal. Stress Medicine, 6, 227–236.
83.
PettigrewT. F. (1988). Integration and pluralism. In KatzP.TaylorD. (Eds.), Eliminating racism: Profiles in controversy (pp. 19–30). New York: Plenum Press.
84.
PfeiferJ. E.OgloffJ. R. (1991). Ambiguity and guilt determinations: A modern racism perspective. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 21(21), 1713–1725.
85.
PhelpsR. E.TaylorJ. D.GerardP. A. (2001). Cultural mistrust, ethnic identity, racial identity, and self-esteem among ethnically diverse black university students. Journal of Counseling & Development, 79(2), 209–217.
86.
PhinneyJ. S. (1990). Ethnic identity in adolescents and adults: Review of research. Psychological Bulletin, 108(3), 499–514.
87.
PhinneyJ. S. (1992). The multigroup ethnic identity measure: A new scale for use with diverse groups. Journal of Adolescent Research, 7, 156–176.
88.
RansfordH. E.MillerJ. (1983). Race, sex, and feminist outlooks. American Sociological Review, 48, 46–59.
89.
ReidP. T. (1988). Racism and sexism: Comparisons and conflicts. In KatzP.TaylorD. (Eds.), Eliminating racism: Profiles in controversy (pp. 203–221). New York: Plenum Press.
90.
ReidP. TComas-DiazL. (1990). Gender and ethnicity: Perspectives on dual status. Sex Roles, 22(7/8), 397–408.
91.
ReynoldsA. L.PopeR. L. (1991). The complexities of diversity: Exploring multiple oppressions. Journal of Counseling & Development, 70(1), 174–180.
92.
RomeroG. J.GarzaR. T. (1986). Attributions for the occupational success and failure of ethnic minority and nonminority women. Sex Roles, 14(7/8), 431–452.
93.
RuggieroK. M.TaylorD. M. (1997). Why minority group members perceive or do perceive the discrimination that confronts them: The role of self-esteem and perceived control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(2), 373–389.
94.
SearsD. (1988). Symbolic racism. In KatzP.TaylorD. (Eds.), Eliminating racism: Profiles in controversy (pp. 203–221). New York: Plenum Press.
95.
Shorter-GoodenWashingtonN.C. (1996). Young, black, and female: The challenge of weaving an identity. Journal of Adolescence, 19, 465–475.
96.
SmithA.StewartA. J. (1983). Approaches to studying racism and sexism in black women's lives. Journal of Social Issues, 39(3), 1–15.
97.
SmithC. A.HaynesK. N.LazarusR. S.PopeL. K. (1993). In search of the “hot” cognitions: Attributions, appraisals, and their relation to emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 916–929.
98.
SmithC. A.LazarusR. S. (1993). Appraisal components, core relational themes, and the emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 7(3/4), 233–269.
99.
SmithE. J. (1991). Ethnic identity development: Toward the development of a theory within the context of majority/minority status. Journal of Counseling & Development, 70(1), 181–188.
100.
SmithR. E.SmollF. L.PtacekJ. T. (1990). Conjunctive moderator variables in vulnerability and resiliency research:. Life stress, social support and coping skills, and adolescent sport injuries. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 58(2), 360–370.
101.
Social Justice Group at The Center for Advanced Feminist Studies, University of Minnesota (2000). Is academic feminism dead?: Theory in practice. New York: New York University Press.
102.
SodowskyG. R.KwanK.PannuR. (1995). Ethnic identity of Asians in the United States. In PonterottoJ.G.CasasJ.M. (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (pp. 123–154). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
103.
SpauldingL. R.HenleyN. M. (1997). Validity and reliability of the feminist perspectives scale: Short form (FPS3). Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society in Washington, DC.
104.
SpencerM. B.Markstrom-AdamsC. (1990). Identity processes among racial and ethnic minority children in America. Child Development, 61, 290–310.
105.
SutherlandM. E.HarrellJ. P. (1986). Individual differences in physiological responses to fearful, racially noxious, and neutral imagery. Imagination, cognition and personality, 6(2), 133–150.
106.
SwannW. B.LangloisJ. H.GilbertL. A. (eds). (1999). Sexism and stereotypes in modern society: The gender science of Janet Taylor Spence. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
107.
SwimJ. K.AikinK. J.HallW. S.HunterB. A. (1995). Sexism and racism: Old-fashioned and modern prejudices. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(2), 199–214.
108.
TaylorD. M.WrightS. C.MoghaddamF. M.LalondeR. M. (1990). The personal/group discrimination discrepancy: Perceiving my group, but not myself, to be a target for discrimination. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 16(2), 254–262.
109.
ThomsponC. P.AndersonL. P.BakemanR. A. (2000). Effects of racial socialization and racial identity on acculturative stress in African American college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 6(2), 196–210.
110.
ThompsonV. L. S. (1996). Perceived experiences of racism as stressful life events. Community Mental Health Journal, 32, 223–233.
111.
TwengeJ. M.ZuckerA. N. (1999). What is a feminist? Evaluations and stereotypes in closed- and open-ended responses. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 23(3), 591–605.
112.
UCLA Office of Academic Planning and Budget (2002). UCLA Ethnic Enrollment—Total (Fall 1997). Retrieved November 18, 2002, from UCLA Office of Academic Planning and Budget Website: http://www.apb.ucla.edu/apbeth.htm.
113.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1996). Income, poverty, and valuation of noncash benefits, 1994. Current Population Reports (Series P-60, No. 189). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
114.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (2000). Current Population Survey, March 2000 and 2001.
115.
WalkerA. (1983). In search of our mothers' gardens. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
116.
WernerP. D.LaRussaG. W. (1985). Persistence and change in sex-role stereotypes. Sex Roles, 12, 1089–1100.
117.
WhiteD.J.CarlstonD. E. (1983). Consequences of schemata for attention, impressions, and recall in complex social interactions. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 45(3), 538–549.
118.
WhiteM. J.BrockettD. R.OverstreetB. G. (1993). Confirmatory bias in evaluating personality test information: Am I really that kind of person?Journal of Counseling Psychology, 40(1), 120–126.
119.
WingA. K. (2001). Global critical race feminism: An international reader. New York: New York University Press.
120.
WittenbrinkB.JuddC. M.ParkB. (1997). Evidence for racial prejudice at the implicit level and its relationship with questionnaire measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(2), 262–274.
121.
WohlgemuthE.BetzN. E. (1991). Gender as a moderator of the relationships of stress and social support to physical health in college students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 38(3), 367–374.
