Related Experiment Videos
Perceived racism and self and system blame attribution: consequences for longevity
T A LaVeist1, R Sellers, H W Neighbors
1Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA. tlaveist@jhsph.edu
Ethnicity & Disease
|January 5, 2002
Summary
Attributing racism to systemic factors, not self-blame, improves survival for African Americans. This study shows external attribution protects health when facing racial discrimination.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Epidemiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Perceived racism is a significant stressor for African Americans.
- Attributional orientation (self-blame vs. system-blame) may influence health outcomes.
- Understanding these factors is crucial for public health interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between perceived racism, attributional style, and survival in African Americans.
- To test if system-blaming (external attribution) is protective against racism-related health disparities.
- To assess the impact of attributional orientation on mortality over 13 years.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the National Survey of Black Americans (baseline 1979, follow-up 1992).
- Employed Cox proportional hazards regression modeling to analyze survival data.
- Measured perceived racism, self-blame, system-blame, and covariates (age, health, sex, smoking, income, etc.).
Main Results:
- African Americans with a system-blaming orientation who experienced racism had higher survival rates (OR = .37).
- This protective effect remained significant even after controlling for known survival correlates (OR = .43 for self-blame).
- Self-blame orientation was associated with poorer survival among those exposed to racism.
Conclusions:
- Attributing negative experiences like racism to external, systemic factors may be adaptive.
- System-blaming orientation appears protective of health status and survival in the face of racism.
- Findings suggest interventions promoting external attributions could mitigate racism's health impact.