Discrimination and unfair treatment: Relationship to cardiovascular reactivity among African American and European American women (2001)
This research was of a subset of women (N = 363) who were enrolled in the much larger SWAN study (of women’s health). African American (n = 101) and European American women (n = 262) responded to a series of items about the mistreatment that they may have experienced during their social interactions. Based on their responses, the items were categorized as relating to either blatant or subtle mistreatment. If a participant responded at least “sometimes” (3 on a 4-point Likert scale) to one of the items, then she was asked to choose from a list of possible reasons for the mistreatment. When race or ethnicity was chosen, it was considered that the participant had experienced racial/ethnic discrimination. African American women reported significantly more subtle and blatant mistreatment than the European American women. Of the women who were asked to report the reason for their mistreatment, 57 per cent of the African American women chose their race or ethnicity, compared with 3 per cent of the European American.
In addition to these inquiries, the participants were also asked to undergo a series of lab activities (stressors), all the while their cardiovascular vitals—diastolic and systolic blood pressure and heart rate—were measured. The purpose of these activities was to determine whether mistreatment during interpersonal interaction was a predictor of cardiovascular reactivity (i.e. changes in blood pressure and/or heart rate). Analyses found a significant positive association between subtle mistreatment and reactivity in diastolic blood pressure among African American women, but not among European American women. The researchers posited that the physical response to subtle mistreatment may be characteristic of its vagueness. Whereas a coping mechanism might be invoked by a blatant form of mistreatment, dealing with subtle forms discrimination is more difficult to do. Analyses also found that racial/ethnic discrimination was significantly positively associated with baseline heart rate levels among African American women.
Relevance to the documentary: This study didn’t only compare the effects of discrimination on cardiovascular reactivity between African American and European American women; the researchers also considered the effects of discrimination within the African American group of women. And those African American women who reported more discrimination also showed greater signs of cardiovascular reactivity. Because so many people are quick to diminish African Americans’ (and other people of color) feelings of discrimination, as well as feelings caused by discrimination, it’s useful to show that not all African Americans experience all situations similarly or similarly internalize the effects of those situations. In other words, being a person of color doesn’t make him/her inherently unhealthier than his/her white counterparts; it may have everything to do with the environment in which he/she lives. Reading about the physiological pathway taken by stress illustrates clearly the importance of limiting discriminatory encounters for people of color, or, at the very least, help them develop and/or utilize coping mechanisms.
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