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Hope Above Racial Discrimination and Social Support in Accounting for Positive and Negative Psychological Adjustment in African American Adults: Is “Knowing You Can Do It” as Important as “Knowing How You Can”?

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There is in this world no such force as the force of a man determined to rise.

–W. E. B. Du Bois

Abstract

In the present study, we examined the role of racial discrimination, social support (viz., family and friends), and hope (viz., agency and pathways) in accounting for negative psychological adjustment (viz., anxious and depressive symptoms) and positive psychological adjustment (viz., vitality and life satisfaction) in a sample of 249 African Americans. Overall, results of conducting a series of hierarchical regression analyses provided some evidence for the role of racial discrimination and social support in accounting for both negative and positive psychological adjustment. Noteworthy, the inclusion of hope was found to significantly augment the prediction models of psychological adjustment. Within the hope set, agency was consistently found to uniquely account for adjustment. In contrast, pathways was only found to uniquely account for vitality. Beyond affirming the importance of racial discrimination and social support, the present findings highlight the added value of considering hope, especially agency, in understanding positive and negative psychological adjustment in African Americans. Implications of the present findings for understanding the role of racial discrimination, social support, and hope in the psychological adjustment of African American adults are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

The first author would like to thank Chang Suk-Choon and Tae Myung-Sook for their encouragement and support throughout this project, and to acknowledge the late C. R. Snyder for sharing his passion for the study of hope in the lives of all people.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Edward C. Chang & Olivia D. Chang

  2. Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    David Rollock

  3. Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA

    P. Priscilla Lui

  4. Department of Psychology, Spelman College, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Angela Farris Watkins

  5. Department of Psychology, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA

    Jameson K. Hirsch

  6. Department of Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY, USA

    Elizabeth L. Jeglic

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  1. Edward C. Chang
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  2. Olivia D. Chang
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  4. P. Priscilla Lui
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  5. Angela Farris Watkins
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  6. Jameson K. Hirsch
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  7. Elizabeth L. Jeglic
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Correspondence to Edward C. Chang or Olivia D. Chang.

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Edward C. Chang, Olivia D. Chang, David Rollock, P. Priscilla Lui, Angela Farris Watkins, Jameson K. Hirsch, and Elizabeth L. Jeglic declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional Review Board at the university where the study was conducted. Informed consent was obtained from all individuals participating in the present study.

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Chang, E.C., Chang, O.D., Rollock, D. et al. Hope Above Racial Discrimination and Social Support in Accounting for Positive and Negative Psychological Adjustment in African American Adults: Is “Knowing You Can Do It” as Important as “Knowing How You Can”?. Cogn Ther Res 43, 399–411 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-018-9949-y

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