Dehumanization, attitudes toward seeking professional psychological care, and mental health among African American women.

OBJECTIVE

Self-infrahumanization or perceiving oneself as lacking the experience of uniquely human emotions, and endorsement of Strong Black Woman (SBW) schema, or self-superhumanization, are two forms of dehumanization. Among African American women, SBW schema endorsement is associated with greater negative attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help (ATSPPH) and poorer mental health. Self-infrahumanization is associated with fewer adaptive stress responses and poorer well-being. This research examines the relationship between self-infrahumanization and self-superhumanization on ATSPPH and mental health among African American women. We hypothesized that self-infrahumanization and self-superhumanization will be associated with greater negative ATSPPH and greater mental health symptomatology. We also hypothesized that ATSPPH will mediate the interactive effect of self-infrahumanization and SBW schema endorsement on mental health symptomatology.

METHOD

Four hundred and forty-nine self-identified African American women ( = 37.96; = 15.55; age range: 18-87) completed an online, self-administered Qualtrics survey investigating the social and psychological determinants of health.

RESULTS

Self-infrahumanization was not associated with mental health symptomatology. Greater SBW schema endorsement was associated with greater mental health symptomatology. Self-infrahumanization and SBW schema endorsement were not associated with ATSPPH. ATSPPH mediated the interaction between SBW and self-infrahumanization on mental health symptomatology. At high and average-but not low-levels of SBW schema endorsement, greater self-infrahumanization was associated with lower positive ATSPPH, which was then associated with greater mental health symptomatology.

CONCLUSIONS

Among African American women, believing that one lacks the experience of uniquely human emotions exacerbates the negative effects of endorsing SBW schema. We discuss the role of dehumanization processes in health disparities research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).