Berkel, L., & Constantine, M. (2005). Relationship variables and life satisfaction in African-American and Asian American college women. Journal of College Counseling, 8(1), 5-13.

This reports a study of 169 African American and Asian American women who were asked about relationships and self-concepts and life satisfaction. The quantitative research hypothesized that the greater self-concepts would yield greater life satisfaction, and the results supported this notion. The study showed that when family turmoil presents itself, the quality of life satisfaction goes down.

Academic Journal

Givens, B., Monohan, S., & Media, J. (2005). Priming mammies, jezebels, and other controlling images: An examination of the influence of mediated stereotypes on perceptions of an African American woman. Psychology, 7(1), 87-106.

This work focused on how African American women are perceived in social situations after their image is mediated by stereotypical portrayals. The study involved 182 women. Three stereotypes were employed. The first was that of a mammy (subservient), the second was that of a Jezebel (promiscuous), and the third was that of a non-stereotype. Participants’ impressions were influenced heavily by video images prior to mock job interviews. The results suggest that medicated imagery could help or hinder the cause of equal treatment of African American women in the marketplace.

Rucker, C., & Cash, T. (1992). Body images-size perceptions, and eating behaviors             among African-American and White college women. Journal of Eating Disorders, 12(3), 291-299.

Prior research has indicated that eating disorders are lower among African American women than in the White population. In this study, 104 African-American and White female college students were assessed in four areas. First, they were asked about how they felt about their bodies. Second, they were asked about how they felt their bodies were perceived. Third, they were asked about any concerns they had with eating or weight management. Fourth, they were asked to judge fatness and thinness in varying body examples. Hypotheses were confirmed that African American women were more comfortable with their bodies than were White women. Black women held higher views of larger body sizes than did White women. Black women hold less strict criteria for judging fatness. Whites reported having much more eating restraint.

Academic Journal

King, K. (2003). Do you see what I see? Effects of group consciousness on African-American women’s attributions to prejudice. Psychology of Women, 27(1), 17-30.

Three group consciousness effects were studied here with African American women: ethnic, feminist, and womanist. All three were related to attributes of prejudice. Participants numbered 123 an imagined themselves in a scenario where they were audiotaped as they overheard European American males make negative evaluations of their race and gender. Through analyses of multiple regression, participants with higher ethnic and womanist tendencies drew forth more negative and prejudice attributes. Participants displaying high feminist tendencies seemed to have no effect. These results suggest that African American women who perceive prejudice may likely be more womanist than feminist.