The double-edged nature of strength: Multidimensional insights into the Strong Black Woman schema and burnout

Although critical to the labor force, organizational research rarely considers the perspectives of Black women generally and individual differences in cultural identity specifically. Simultaneously, although cultural psychologists have linked individual differences in race and gender socialization, termed the Strong Black Woman (SBW) schema, to mental health outcomes, it has not been tested in work contexts. Finally, research using the Strong Black Woman Cultural Construct Scale has largely analyzed this multidimensional construct unidimensionally, potentially obscuring subdimensions' unique effects on health and work outcomes (i.e., affect regulation, caretaking, and self-reliance). The current work addresses these empirical gaps.

Two studies using cross-sectional and multiwave designs tested relations between the SBW schema and burnout (n_total = 343; age range = 18-69). Black women workers completed measures of the SBW schema and burnout. In Study 2, measurements were separated by 1 week.

In Study 1, we refined the Strong Black Woman Cultural Construct Scale (SBWCCS-9) to improve subscale validity and validated the factor structure in Study 2. The multidimensional approach had the best predictive validity, accounting for approximately three times as much variance in burnout and revealing discrete costs and benefits of the SBW schema. Whereas affect regulation and caretaking were positively associated with burnout, self-reliance negatively predicted burnout.

Black women's cultural identity plays a key role in organizational life and is best conceptualized as multidimensional. Affect regulation and caretaking contributed to burnout, whereas self-reliance offered protective benefits. The SBW schema acts as a double-edged sword in Black women's work lives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).