how do african american and caucasian women view themselves at midlife?
TRANSCRIPT
How Do African American and Caucasian Women View Themselves at Midlife?ly
CHARLOTTE BROWN^ Department of Psychiatry University of Pittsburgh
KAREN A. MATTHEWS Department of Psychiatry,
Epidemiology, and Psychologv University of Pittsburgh
JOYCE BROMBERGER Department of Epidemiology and Psychiatry
University of Pittsburgh
This report examines midlife perceptions of African American and Caucasian women. African American and Caucasian women (aged 42 to 52) completed self-report measures of midlife perceptions, health status, and personality factors. Women had positive percep- tions of themselves at midlife; few women reported interpersonal isolation or hopeless- ness. More optimistic women reported a more positive perception of their current identity and security at midlife. African American women reported more positive perceptions than did Caucasian women. Among those who reported more stressful life events and financial difficulty, African Americans had more positive perceptions, whereas Caucasians had more negative perceptions. Although women tend to view themselves positively at midlife, race is an important moderator of psychosocial factors that may be associated with midlife perceptions.
‘The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) was funded by the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Nursing Research, and the Office of Research on Women’s Health of the National Institutes of Health. Supplemental funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Child and Human Development, the National Center on Comple- mentary and Alternative Medicine, and the Office of AIDS Research is also gratefully acknowledged. We thank the study staff at each site, the Pittsburgh Community Advisory Board, and all of the women who participated in SWAN. The manuscript was reviewed by the Publications and Presenta- tions Committee of SWAN and has its endorsement.
2Clinical Centers: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (UO 1 NR04061); Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA (UO1 AG12531); Rush University, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Cen- ter, Chicago, IL (UO1 AG12505); University of California, DavidKaiser (UO1 AG12554); University of California, Los Angeles (UOI A12539); University of Medicine and Dentistry-New Jersey Medi- cal School, Newark, NJ (UO1 AG12535); and the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (UO1 AG12546). Central Laboratory: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (UO1 AG12495). Coordinat- ing Center: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (UOI AG12553).
3Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Charlotte Brown, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 381 1 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. E-mail: Brownc@ upmc.edu
Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 2005, 35, 10, pp. 2057-2075. Copyright 0 2005 by V. H. Winston & Son, Inc. All rights reserved.
2058 BROWN ET AL.
Midlife is a period of biological and social change for women, one that is marked by an increased risk for the health consequences of estrogen fluctuation and decline, as well as shifts in roles, responsibilities, and relationships (Brornberger & Matthews, 1996). While much of the health-related research on midlife women has focused on menopause or the impact of role changes on psychological well-being (Baruch & Barnett, 1986; Lippert, 1997; Raup & Myers, 1989), we know relatively little about the meaning of midlife for contem- porary women and how they experience it.
Investigations examining attitudes toward midlife typically have found that women view this period positively; reporting high levels of well-being and satis- faction with achievements, gained maturity, experience and confidence (Coney, 1994; Mitchell & Helson, 1990; Society for Research on Women in New Zealand [SRWO], 1988). For example, based on their longitudinal studies of middle- class, college-educated women, Stewart and Ostrove (1 998) described midlife as one of transition, when women commonly make lifestyle or career changes and engage in a process of life review and “midcourse correction.” Midlife also has been viewed as a time of an increased sense of personal identity and confidence in personal efficacy. While numerous studies have provided support for this (Helson & Wink, 1992), few have used racially and socioeconomically diverse samples, which would increase our understanding of similarities or differences in women’s experiences of midlife.
Studies of women at midlife often have examined events occurring during this period that are thought to be negative, such as menopause (McKinlay & Jefferys, 1974) and the “empty nest” (Adelmann, Antonucci, Crohan, & Coleman, 1989). Most studies, primarily of Caucasian women, have found heightened levels of vasomotor symptom reporting during the menopausal transition (Matthews et al., 1990). However, other data have suggested that among African American women, menopausal symptoms are not viewed as particularly bothersome (Holmes-Rovner et al., 1996); or when compared to Caucasian women, African American women hold more positive attitudes toward menopause than do Caucasian women (Padonu et al., 1996; Sommer et al., 1999; Standing & Glazer, 1992).
Like racial differences in attitudes toward menopause and the experience of menopausal symptoms in midlife, perhaps cultural factors that accompany racial identification also influence attitudes toward oneself during midlife. According to social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986), when group identity is important and a group is devalued, members of that group strive to achieve a positive in-group identity by emphasizing the desirable aspects of their group, redefining negative stereotypical qualities as positive and favoring in- group members over out-group members. For example, Twenge and C‘rocker (2002) asserted that having a positive racial identity may be related to using in-group members as a reference group for social comparison and disengaging
HOW DO WOMEN VIEW THEMSELVES? 2059
one’s self-esteem from others’ appraisals, particularly the appraisals of Caucasians. This reasoning is consistent with the results of two meta-analyses (Gray-Little & Hafdahl, 2000; Twenge & Crocker, 2002) showing that self- esteem is higher among African Americans than among Caucasians, with the racial gap increasing with aging. In the present study, we anticipate finding that African Americans have more positive perceptions of themselves in midlife than do Caucasians.
Despite these biological and psychosocial transitions, as noted earlier, studies have shown that midlife is generally associated with positive perceptions of one- self. It is important, therefore, to consider other possible correlates of midlife per- ceptions, such as perceived health, life stress, and personality characteristics (e.g., optimism). It is well established that when facing stressful situations, opti- mistic individuals use more appropriate coping strategies and have better health outcomes in general (Carver & Scheier, 1990; Scheier & Carver, 1985; Scheier et al., 1989). Conversely, the burden of greater life stress may cause some women to have less positive perceptions in midlife, whereas stress may result in other women becoming more resourceful and being able to handle midlife changes very well. Furthermore, optimism may be a key factor to examine in this racially mixed cohort because positive perceptions of negative qualities, as described in social identity theory, are consistent with looking at the positive side of adverse life situations. It is important to study women’s midlife perceptions because this can inform our knowledge about factors associated with adaptation during midlife and increase our understanding of how varied dimensions of well-being differ among diverse samples of women.
The purpose of the present study is as follows: (a) to describe the type and degree of positive and negative midlife perceptions among African American and Caucasian women; (b) to examine through univariate and bivariate analyses the association between midlife perceptions and health status, select psychosocial factors, and dispositional optimism; and (c) to examine through multivariate analysis the extent to which race will moderate the relationship between predic- tors and positive self-perceptions. We hypothesize that African American and Caucasian women will have generally positive views about themselves at midlife. However, African American women are expected to report significantly more positive views of themselves at midlife than are Caucasian women. Further, we hypothesize that factors associated with lower socioeconomic status, fewer resources, and more stress-specifically, lower education, greater difficulty pay- ing for basics, greater life stress, being unmarried, more severe depressive symp- toms, and lower dispositional optimism-will be significantly associated with less positive self-perceptions in midlife women. Finally, based on social identity theory, we hypothesize that such negative or vulnerable psychosocial factors may have a less deleterious impact on self-perceptions in African American women than in Caucasian women.
2060 BROWN ET AL.
Method
Participants
The sample was comprised of 21 1 women (116 Caucasian, 95 African American) recruited at the Pittsburgh site of the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a longitudinal, multi-site, multiethnic, community-based study of 3,302 women (42 to 52 years of age) as they approach and experience menopause. This observational study recruited community samples of Chinese, Japanese, African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian women of diverse socio- economic status in seven sites. Each site recruited Caucasians and a minority group; ethnic group was self-identified. The Pittsburgh site recruited 162 African Americans and 301 Caucasians. To be eligible for the longitudinal cohort, women had to be aged 42 to 52, have an intact uterus, and have had at least one menstrual period in the previous 3 months, not have used reproductive hormones in the previous 3 months, and have self-identified with one of the site’s desig- nated race/ethnic groups. Comprehensive assessments were completed at base- line and at annual follow-up visits.
The present investigation was a Pittsburgh site-specific study approved by the SWAN Steering Committee. Consecutive women presenting for their first annual visit were asked to participate. Questionnaire data were obtained at each visit con- current with the physical measures from January 1996 through January 1999. The sample is comprised of 2 11 (55% Caucasian, 45% African American) women who completed assessments of midlife perceptions at their first annual evaluation. Demographic, health status, and personality factors were assessed at the baseline evaluation. A total of 201 women did not complete midlife perceptions assess- ment because these questions were added subsequent to their first annual visit.
As shown in Table 1, participants in the study were diverse in terms of race, marital status, number of children, and financial status. The average participant was in her mid-40s and had between one and three children. Most women had a high school education or greater and were employed for pay. Almost half of the participants were African American, and approximately two thirds were married. Most participants reported household incomes of at least $35,000 per year, a sub- stantial minority indicated that it was somewhat or very hard to pay for basics (e.g., food, housing, medical care).
Measures
Demographic factors. Self-reported demographic information included age, number of children, race (Caucasian = 0, African American = l ) , income (435,000 = 0,2$35,000 = l) , employment status (unemployed = 0, employed for pay = l), education (<high school = 0, >high school = 1), and marital status
Tabl
e 1
Dem
ogra
phic
Cha
ract
eris
tics a
nd M
ean
Scor
es o
n H
ealth
, Life
Str
ess,
Per
sona
lity
Vari
able
s, an
d M
idlif
e Fa
ctor
s
Tota
l sam
ple
Cau
casi
ans
Afr
ican
Am
eric
ans
MS
D%
n
MS
D%
n
MS
D%
n
Age
46
.37
2.34
21
1 46
.39
2.37
11
6 46
.36
2.32
95
>H
S ed
ucat
ion
79.6
16
8 78
.4
91
81.1
77
83
.2
79
Em
ploy
ed f
or p
ay
84.4
17
8 85
.3
99
36.8
35
***
0 z
Mar
ried
61.6
13
0 81
.9
95
Inco
me
2 $
35,0
00
71.0
14
7 81
.7
94
57.6
53
***
0
0 z
Num
ber o
f chi
ldre
n 1.
91
1.22
21
1 1.
75
1.20
11
6 2.
09
1.22
95
* 0
D
iffic
ulty
pay
ing
for b
asic
s 32
.7
69
24.1
28
Pe
rcei
ved
heal
th
2.20
0.
87
211
1.97
0.
82
116
2.48
0.
86
95**
* z
5
CE
S-D
scor
e 2
16
24.4
51
24
.6
28
24.2
23
I
43.2
41
**
5 9 N
umbe
r of s
tress
ful
life
even
ts
3.55
2.
70
211
2.87
2.
33
116
4.39
2.
90
95**
* -I 2
Opt
imis
m
13.0
5 3.
99
211
12.7
4 4.
36
116
13.4
3 3.
45
95
5 2 I
cn Se
nse
of p
erso
nal i
dent
ity a
nd
rn
secu
rity
48
.25
6.27
21
1 47
.27
6.60
11
6 49
.47
5.63
95
*
*Afri
can
Am
eric
ans
and
Cau
casia
ns d
iffer
sig
nific
antly
, p <
.05.
**A
fric
an A
mer
ican
s an
d C
auca
sian
s diff
er s
igni
fican
tly, p
< .0
1.
***A
frica
n A
mer
ican
s and
Cau
casi
ans d
iffer
sign
ifica
ntly
, p <
.000
1
2062 BROWN ET AL.
(not married = 0, married or living as married = 1). An additional question, scored on a 3-point Likert scale, assessed financial need. Participants were asked “How hard is it for you to pay for the very basics, like food, housing, medical care, and heating?’ (very hard = 1, somewhat hard= 2, not very hard = 3) .
Health status. Perceived health was assessed with the following question from the screening interview scored on a 5-point Likert scale: “Would you say your health in general is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?”(Stewart, Hays, & Ware, 1988). Higher scores indicate more favorable perceived health status. Inter- nal consistency for this measure of perceived health was found to be 37 .
The Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) assessed current severity of depressive symptomatology. This 20-item self-report inventory assesses depressive symptoms in the past week, with an emphasis on the affective component depressed mood. Higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms. As recommended by Radloff, a score of 16 or more is used to identify women with clinically significant depressive symptoms (CES-D < 16 = 0, CES-D 2 16 = 1). Reliability and validity for the CES-D have been demonstrated using both psychiatric and general population samples. Coef- ficient alpha was found to range between .85 and .90, and test-retest correlations were found to be in the moderate range (.32 to .67, depending on time interval).
Psychosocial factors. The occurrence of major life stressors in the preceding 12 months was assessed with a 34-item checklist adapted from the 102-item version of the Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Interview Life Events Scale (PERI; Dohrenwend, Krasnoff, Askenasy, & Dohrenwend, 1978). The PERI was modified to include events that were particularly relevant for middle-aged women or for those living in low socioeconomic environments (e.g., events involving job, family, finances, illness, or death). The total number of stressful life events endorsed was used in the present analyses.
Dispositional optimism. Assessment of dispositional optimism was included on the basis of its relationship to coping with life changes and stresses. Disposi- tional optimism was assessed with the six-item Life Orientation Test (LOT; Scheier & Carver, 1985), which assesses the degree to which a person tends to be favorable in his or her outlook on life. Higher scores on the LOT denote greater optimism. The LOT has demonstrated a moderate level of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Coefficient alpha for the LOT was found to be .76, and test-retest correlations (for a 4-week interval) were found to be .79.
Midllfe perceptions. Self-report questions assessed midlife women’s percep- tions of themselves in terms of personal growth and self-evaluation, purpose in life and goal attainment, interpersonal caring and isolation, sense of security and commitment, and perceived knowledge and wisdom. Because participants were part of a larger study, our concern about respondent burden forced us to limit the number of items that could be used to assess women’s midlife perception to 16. Questions were obtained from several adult development inventories, and items
HOW DO WOMEN VIEW THEMSELVES? 2063
were modified to be scored on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly dis- agree) to 6 (strongly agree). Personal growthhelf-evaluation was assessed with three questions (Table 2; Items 4, 5, and 6) from Ryff‘s (1989, 1995; Ryff & Heidrich, 1997; Ryff & Singer, 1998) psychological well-being scales. An addi- tional three questions from this scale evaluated purpose in life and goal attain- ment (Items 1, 2, and 3). Two questions adapted from Helson and Wink (1992) assessed changes in perceived sense of security and commitment (Items 15 and 16). Four questions adapted from the Midlife Development Inventory (MIDI; Brim, Ryff, & Kessler, 2004) evaluated changes in perceived knowledge and wis- dom (Items 11, 12, 13, and 14). Changes in perceived interpersonal caring and isolation were assessed with two questions adapted from the MIDI (Items 7 and 8) and two questions adapted from Helson and Wink (Items 9 and lo).
In order to use these items in multivariate analyses, we completed a factor analysis to determine whether they comprised a unidimensional or a multidinien- sional scale. A principal components analysis with oblique rotation was com- pleted on the 16 items. Initially, an eigenvalue of at least 1 .O was the criterion used to retain principal component factors (Gorsuch, 1983), and the preliminary analysis yielded a four-factor solution. However, the final factor analysis was constrained to three factors because this factor solution accounted for the major- ity of the variance and was the most interpretable. Factor items were limited to those with loadings of .40 or greater. I t e m comprising each factor were used to develop subscale scores using unit weighting.
The three factors identified by principal components analysis accounted for 62.2% of the total item variance, with one factor substantially larger than the others. That factor, sense of personal identity and security, accounted for 38.1 % of the variance and had an eigenvalue of 6.10 (items are listed in Table 2). The second factor, past sense of security and knowledge, had an eigenvalue of 2.18 and accounted for 13.6% of the variance; while the last factor, sense of interper- sonal isolation and hopelessness, had an eigenvalue of 1.67 and accounted for 10.5% of the variance.
Three subscale scores comprised of factor items were computed for each par- ticipant. Higher subscale scores denote a greater sense of personal identity and security, past sense of personal identity and knowledge, or perceived isolation and hopelessness. Internal consistency estimates were computed for each sub- scale using Cronbach’s alpha. Given our interest in racial differences in women’s midlife perceptions, we completed separate internal consistency estimates for the total sample, Caucasians, and African Americans. Comparable internal consis- tency estimates were obtained for the total sample and for both racial groups. Internal consistency was highest for the subscales assessing sense of personal identity and security ( a = .90, .91, and .89 for the total sample, African Americans, and Caucasians, respectively) and past sense of security and knowledge (a = .83, .86, and .79 for the total sample, African Americans, and
Tabl
e 2
Perc
enta
ge of P
artic
ipan
ts W
ho A
gree
Som
ewha
t or S
tron
gly
With
Mid
life
Perc
eptio
n Q
uest
ions
m
n 0 z
Tota
l sam
ple
~
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Scal
e ite
m
I hav
e a
sens
e of
dire
ctio
n an
d pu
rpos
e in
1ife
.a
I enj
oy m
akin
g pl
ans
for t
he fb
ture
and
wor
king
to
mak
e th
em a
rea1
ity.a
I fin
d it
satis
fyin
g to
thin
k ab
out w
hat I
hav
e ac
com
p1is
hed.
a
With
tim
e, I
have
gai
ned
a lo
t of i
nsig
ht a
bout
life
th
at h
as m
ade
me
a st
rong
er, m
ore
capa
ble
pers
ona
I gav
e up
tryi
ng to
mak
e bi
g im
prov
emen
ts o
r ch
ange
s in
my
life
a lo
ng ti
me
ago.
For m
e, li
fe h
as b
een
a co
ntin
uous
pro
cess
of
lear
ning
, cha
ngin
g, a
nd g
r0w
th.a
I am
car
ing
n0w
.a
M
SD
%
4 r
Cau
casi
ans
Afr
ican
Am
eric
ans
M
SD
%
M
SD
Yo
1.71
1.
07
87
1.70
1.
01
85
1.86
1.
00
82
1.49
0.
89
91
4.53
1.
67
20
1.44
0.
89
92
1.38
0.
75
95
1.90
1.
22
81
1.47
0.
80
94*
1.79
1.
08
81
1.59
0.
92
89
1.97
1.
09
81
1.72
0.
86
83
1.64
0.
96
88
1.31
0.
74
95*
4.41
1.
65
21
4.68
1.
69
18
1.53
0.
97
91
1.34
0.
77
94
1.47
0.
81
92
1.27
0.
66
98*
8. I
was
car
ing
10 ye
ars
ago.
1.
47
0.91
9.
I a
m a
lone
now
.
10.
I was
alo
ne 1
0 yea
rs a
go.
1 1.
I am
kno
wle
dgea
ble
n0w
.a
12.
I was
kno
wle
dgea
ble
10 ye
ars
ago.
13.
I am
wis
e n0
w.a
14.
I was
wis
e 10
yea
rs a
go.
15.
I am
sec
ure
and
Com
mitt
ed n
ow.a
16. I
was
sec
ure
and
com
mitt
ed 1
0 yea
rs a
go.
4.78
1.
70
4.71
1.
66
1.59
0.
74
2.08
1.
01
1.81
0.
79
2.46
1.
13
1.76
1.
12
2.19
1.
20
~ ~~
~
~
aIte
ms l
oad
on F
acto
r 1.
*A
fric
an A
mer
ican
and
Whi
tes d
iffer
sig
nifi
cant
ly,p
< .0
5.
93
1.53
0.
94
92
1.39
0.
87
95
16
4.90
1.
61
12
4.63
1.
81
21
16
4.83
1.
56
12
4.57
1.
77
20
93
1.70
0.
77
91
1.46
0.
68
95*
78
2.03
.8
5 78
2.
13
1.18
78
86
1.97
0.
82
81
1.61
0.
71
93*
61
2.49
1.
09
62
2.44
1.
18
61
85
1.78
1.
16
85
1.75
1.
08
86
I
0 z 0 0 s 0
70
2.17
1.
12
71
2.21
1.
30
70
z L I rn s
2066 BROWN ET AL.
Caucasians, respectively), and lower for the sense of isolation and hopelessness subscale ( a = .70, .69, and .71 for the total sample, African Americans, and Caucasians, respectively).
Statistical Analyses
Frequency counts of the number of women who agreed somewhat or strongly with items in midlife perception factors were used to describe women’s views about themselves at midlife. A series of bivariate comparisons was conducted to examine possible racial differences in demographic characteristics, health status, psychosocial factors, optimism, and midlife perceptions using t tests or Mann- Whitney U tests for continuous variables and chi-square tests of association for categorical variables. Paired 1 tests were used to evaluate differences on items assessing women’s current perceptions of themselves compared to 10 years ago (i.e., Items 7 to 16). The current identity and security subscale score was logarith- mically transformed to reduce skewness in its distribution, and the transformed variable was used in regression analyses.
A linear regression analysis was completed to examine predictors of women’s current sense of identity and security. Bivariate correlations between the indepen- dent and dependent variables were examined to evaluate the extent of collinearity between variables. Independent variables were included in regression analyses if they were correlated at least . 10 with the dependent variables and not correlated greater than .40 with each other. Using this strategy, the following independent variables were included in regression models: dispositional optimism, CES-D score, number of stressful life events, perceived health, number of children, and marital status.
Income was highly correlated with marital status (r = .49,p < .0001). ‘There- fore, the variable “difficulty paying for basics” was included in regression mod- els instead. Race and marital status were also highly correlated ( r = -.46, p < .0001). Therefore, race was included as a covariate in the first step of regression analyses in order to examine its independent association with the outcome vari- able. The following independent variables were entered simultaneously on Step 2: education, marital status, difficulty paying for basics, perceived health, depression, stressful life events, and dispositional optimism.
Subsequent models were constructed to test for the interaction of race with those independent variables on which African American and Caucasian women varied significantly (i.e., marital status, number of children, difficulty paying for basics, perceived health, number of stressful life events) and which we hypothesized might differ by race in relationship to midlife self-perceptions. The interaction term consisted of the product of the two independent variables (e.g., Race x Number of Children). Centered means were used for continuous variables (i.e., number of life events, number of children, perceived health). High and low
HOW DO WOMEN VIEW THEMSELVES? 2067
values for the continuous variables were calculated as at least 1 standard devia- tion above the mean and at least 1 standard deviation below the mean, respec- tively. Each interaction term was tested in a separate regression model. Given the number of analyses (six regressions), a Bonferroni correction was used. The significance level for each model wasp I .008.
Results
Sample Characteristics
African American and Caucasian women differed on several demographic factors, perceived health, and life stress. When compared to African American women, a significantly greater proportion of Caucasian women were married and had incomes of at least $35,000 (Table 1). African American women had signifi- cantly more children than did Caucasian women and reported greater difficulty paying for basics. African American women also reported poorer genera1 health and more stressful life events than did Caucasian women. However, the two groups did not differ in the proportion of women with clinically significant levels of depressive symptoms. Both groups of women reported comparable levels of dispositional optimism.
Women S Midlife Perceptions: Individual Item Ratings
Our hypothesis that African American and Caucasian women would gener- ally view themselves positively at midlife (Table 2 ) was supported. Over 80% of the sample indicated that they had a sense of direction and purpose in life, enjoyed making plans for the future and making them a reality, were satisfied with their accomplishments, had gained a lot of insight about life with time, and were stronger and more capable. Most women rated themselves the same cur- rently as compared to how they rated themselves 10 years ago in interpersonal caring (82%), feeling alone (68%), knowledge (60%), wisdom (50%), and sense of security and commitment (54%). However, a substantial minority of women reported an increase in knowledge (36%), wisdom (47%), and sense of security and commitment (38%) compared to 10 years ago. Paired t tests indicate that in the full sample, increases in knowledge, t(209) = -7.30, p = .0001; sense of secu- rity, t(210) = - 5 . 1 2 , ~ = .0001; and wisdom, t(206) = - 9 . 4 0 , ~ = .0001, from 10 years to the present were significant. Few women reported a sense of past or cur- rent isolation or hopelessness.
Racial Differences in Women j . Midlge Perceptions
African American women were expected to have more positive views of themselves at midlife. Mann-Whitney U tests comparing African American and
2068 BROWN ET AL.
Table 3
Linear Regression Analysis (Loglo) Current Sense of Identity and Security
Unstandardized coefficients Stand-
ardized Variable B S E B p P R2
Step 1 Race
Step 2 Race Marital status Difficulty paying for basics Number of children Perceived health Optimism Stressful life events Depressive symptoms
-.17 .06 .21
-. 14 .06 -.I8 .009 .07 .01 .02 .05 .03
-.03 .02 - . lo -.04 .03 -.lo -.04 .01 -.41 -.0001 .01 .001 -.06 .07 -.07
.04 .003 ,0001 .23 .03 .88 .66 .16 .14 .0001 .99 .29
Note. N= 202. Adjusted R2 = .20. F(8, 194) = 7 . 2 7 , ~ = .0001.
Caucasian women on factor scores show that African American women reported a significantly greater sense of identity and security than did Caucasian women (Mann-Whitney U = 4,177.50, z = - 2 . 9 3 , ~ = .003). However, the two racial groups did not differ significantly in past sense of security and knowledge (Mann- Whitney U = 5,274.00, z = -0.54, p = .59) or perceived isolation and hopelessness (Mann-Whitney U = 5,378.50, z = -0.17, p = 37). Because the latter two factors accounted for only a small portion of the variance of the questionnaire, we did not examine these as outcomes in regression analyses.
Factors Associated With Women :r Sense of Identity and Security
Finally, we examined predictors of midlife perceptions for African American and Caucasian women, and our hypotheses were partially supported. In a model accounting for 20% of the variance, race (p = -. 18,p < .03) and dispositional opti- mism (p = -.41, p < .OOOl) were the only predictors of women’s sense of current sense of identity and security (Table 3). African American race was associated with higher identity and security, as was greater dispositional optimism. As previ- ously noted, multivariate models were constructed to test for interaction effects of
HOW DO WOMEN VIEW THEMSELVES? 2069
p .2 c 5 1.70 -
1.68 - a 0 m a
o c
0 - c .=
.= u m '-
m u z 1.66 -
E g 1.64 -
W 1.62 -
1.72 1
5 1.72 - a b 2 'Ej 1.70 - a 0 m a m u - o c 2 1.66 -
E 1.64 - W 1.62 -
O W 1.68 -
a, c .=
!=u m .-
-+-African American '. + - White
1.60 Low stress High stress
Figure 1. Interaction of race by number of life events.
+ - White
I I
No difficulty Difficulty
Figure 2. Interaction of race by difficulty paying for basics.
race by income, marital status, number of children, difficulty paying for basics, perceived health, and number of stressful life events. Results of these regression analyses indicate two significant interactions, Race x Stressful Life Events (p =
-.20, adjusted R* = .21), F(9, 193) = 7 . 0 4 , ~ < .0001 (Figure l), and Race x Diffi- culty Paying for Basics (p = .24, adjusted R2 = .22), F(9, 193) = 7 . 2 5 , ~ < .0001 (Figure 2) . African American women who experienced more difficulty paying for basics reported a greater sense of personal identity and security (p = -. 11, R =
.35). Conversely, Caucasian women who had more difficulty paying for basics reported lower personal identity and security (p = .06, R = 3 3 ) . African American women who endorsed more stressful life events reported higher personal identity and security (p = -.01, R = .35), while the converse is true of Caucasian women (p = .02, R = 33).
2070 BROWN ET AL.
Discussion
The present study examined women’s views of themselves at midlife in terms of self-evaluation and personal growth, purpose in life and goal attainment, knowledge, and sense of interpersonal caring and isolation in a racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of women. Our major findings indicate that women have a positive sense of well-being at midlife, with few women reporting interpersonal isolation or hopelessness. When asked to rate themselves currently and retrospectively on sense of security, knowledge, interpersonal caring, and isolation, many women remained unchanged, suggesting that these are stable per- ceptions. However, a substantial proportion of women (36% to 46%) reported positive changes in knowledge, wisdom, and sense of security, indicating that for many women, midlife is a time of change and transition. Only 3% to 9% of women reported a decrease in caring, knowledge, wisdom, or sense of security and commitment.
Our findings support the popular notion that midlife is a time of positive growth and transition €or women. These findings are similar to those reported in Caucasian, well-educated samples (Helson & Wink, 1992; Matthews et al., 1990; Stewart & Ostrove, 1998) and extends them to a sample that is not only racially diverse, but one that also differed on other factors that might influence percep- tions of midlife, such as health status, economic disadvantage, and life stress.
Although most women viewed midlife positively, 16% to 20% of women reported experiencing a sense of isolation and hopelessness, and 24% reported clinically significant symptoms of depression, as measured by the CES-D (Radloff, 1977). These may be women who are at higher risk for psychological difficulties during the menopausal transition. Future longitudinal research should examine the relationship between psychiatric history, psychological distress dur- ing menopause, and self-reported midlife adaptation.
Arguing from the perspective of social identity theory, we suggest that mem- bers of the devalued group (as in the case of African Americans) work to achieve a positive identity by emphasizing the desirable aspects of the group, redefining negative stereotypical qualities as positive, and using in-group members as a ref- erence group. As a consequence, they should have a more positive identity than the majority group. Similarly, should the devalued group experience hardships, they may work to avoid the usual negative impact of such hardships by not accepting personal blame and make great efforts to overcome them. Our results were somewhat consistent with these notions.
Although Caucasian and African American women rated themselves simi- larly on most aspects of midlife adaptation, African American women did report a greater sense of identity and security when compared to Caucasian women. Furthermore, African American women who reported high stress and greater financial need also reported greater identity and security, whereas those who
HOW DO WOMEN VIEW THEMSELVES? 2071
reported low stress and little financial difficulty were lower on identity and secu- rity. The converse was true for Caucasian women. Our findings are consistent with those of a recent qualitative study (Poorman, 2002) examining the construct of thriving in a multiracial sample of women. In this sample, many women concurred that the experience of adversity often facilitates thriving. Further, it is not the mere presence of adversity, but the knowledge and confidence gained from successfully encountering adversity that contributes to thriving.
The sample of women studied was born in the late 1940s to mid-1950s. Unlike earlier cohorts of women, these women reached young adulthood during a period of dramatic social changes brought on by the civil-rights and feminist movements. They saw roles and opportunities for women and minorities expand, and experienced increasing diversity in family and career choices. While many of these societal changes were largely positive, they also presented women with a different set of family and career challenges. The necessity of coping with such challenges may have enhanced the sense of autonomy and mastery among contemporary midlife women. This may be the case particularly for African American women, who rated themselves significantly higher than Caucasian women on items assessing purpose in life and becoming stronger and more cap- able with time.
Understanding how African American women view midlife must take into account the normative experience of prejudice and discrimination for African American people. Franklin and Jackson (1 990) noted that while overt signs of racism (e.g., segregation in housing and education) no longer exist, covert racism in the form of discrimination in housing, employment, education, and health con- tinues. By middle age, African American women may view themselves as having thrived in spite of such adversity. The interactions of race by life stress and race by difficulty paying for basics support this notion of thriving. In fact, psycholog- ical resiliency has been found to be associated with greater use of approach and problem-focused coping strategies (Williams, Wiebe, & Smith, 1992). African American women who experienced higher levels of life stress and more difficulty paying for basics likely had to develop greater resourcefulness and coping skills, thereby leading to a greater sense of personal growth and mastery with time.
An obvious question is why was this effect found for African American women only? Don’t Caucasian women experience adversity and thrive? Our data cannot answer this question, and indeed this might be an important question for future research. However, we have speculated that socialization of African American women differs from that of Caucasian women, and likely informs how African American women define themselves in the face of life’s challenges. As noted by Mays and colleagues (Mays, 1995; Mays & Comas-Diaz, 1988), gender socialization for African American women emphasizes both traditional and non-traditional values and roles. On the more traditional side, education, care- taking, and mutual aid (particularly within the family) are emphasized. However,
2072 BROWN ET AL.
autonomy is important for African American women, and self-reliance is often viewed as synonymous with being an African American woman. In fact, Black feminist Patricia Hill Collins (2000) emphasized that the process of self- evaluation and self-definition is a critical aspect of gender socialization for African American women.
Consistent with the theoretical formulation, optimistic women had more posi- tive self-perceptions, and this extends research on this construct to new areas (e.g., social identity and adaptation to midlife). Furthermore, the fact that this dis- positional factor is significant even when health status and psychosocial stressors are considered suggests that our examination of midlife adaptation should include evaluation of more enduring characteristics in addition to more episodic factors, such as life stressors and affective states. Ryff (1989) noted that healthy adult well-being includes such factors as purpose in life, personal growth, mastery, self-acceptance, and positive relationships with others. These represent dimensions of well-being that likely change with maturity and life experiences. Thus, a woman’s sense of self-worth and expectations for positive outcomes are characteristics that would be expected to influence how she experiences life’s varying challenges and her ability to adapt to them. This process of adaptation, in turn, would influence how she views herself in terms of growth, autonomy, and mastery.
As we continue to explore factors associated with women’s development dur- ing midlife, it will be increasingly important to identify characteristics that can inform us about healthy adaptation. Future longitudinal studies might address how these dimensions of well-being differ among diverse samples of women, how they change over time as women mature, and how they impact women’s fimctioning.
Study Limitations
Methodological limitations of the study warrant consideration. While one of the strengths of this investigation was the inclusion of a sample of women who were diverse in terms of race, demographic, socioeconomic, and health factors, this also presented certain challenges. African American and Caucasian women differed significantly on many of these variables, and our sample was not large enough to stratify on factors that reflected key differences. A larger sample would have allowed us to explore how some of the racial differences were related to midlife perceptions in more detail.
Most of the women had a high school education, were employed, and had an income greater than $35,000. This limited our ability to detect differences that might be a result of education and socioeconomic status both between racial groups and within each racial group.
Finally, the present investigation was a substudy of a large multi-site study, and concerns about respondent burden were an important consideration. Thus,
HOW DO WOMEN VIEW THEMSELVES? 2073
we were limited in the number of questions we could use to assess women’s midlife perceptions, and some of the constructs that we examined might have benefited from a more detailed evaluation. Despite identification of significant correlates of women’s self-perceived adjustment during midlife, our regression models accounted for a relatively small amount of variance, indicating that there are likely to be other significant factors that influence women’s midlife adapta- tion. Nonetheless, to our knowledge, the current study is the only one that has addressed the perceptions of middle-aged women in an ethnically diverse cohort. The current work contributes an additional dimension of self-evaluation to the body of knowledge on women’s midlife adaptation.
References
Adelmann, P., Antonucci, T., Crohan, S., & Coleman, L. (1989). Empty nest, cohort, and employment in the well-being of midlife women. Sex Roles, 20,
Baruch, G., & Barnett, R. (1986). Role quality, multiple role involvement, and psychological well-being in midlife women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 578-585.
Brim, 0. G., Ryff, C. D., & Kessler, R. C. (2004). The MIDUS National Survey: An overview. In 0. G. Brim, C. D. Ryff, & R. C. Kessler (Eds.), How healthy are we? A national study of well-being at midlife (pp. 1-34). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Bromberger, J. T., & Matthews, K. A. (1996). A longitudinal study of the effects of pessimism, trait anxiety, and life stress on depressive symptoms in middle- aged women. Psychology and Aging, 11,207-2 13.
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1990). Origins and functions of positive and neg- ative affect: A control-process view. Psychological Review, 97, 19-35.
Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York, N Y Routledge.
Coney, S. (1994). The menopause industry: How the medical establishment exploits women. Alameda, CA: Hunter House.
Dohrenwend, B. S., masnoff, L., Askenasy, A. R., & Dohrenwend, B. P. (1978). Exemplification of a method of scaling life events: The PERI Life Events Scale. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 19,205-229.
Franklin, A. J., & Jackson, J. S. (1990). Factors contributing to positive mental health among Black Americans. In D. Smith-Ruiz (Ed.), Handbook of mental health and mental disorder among Black Americans (pp. 29 1-308). Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Gorsuch, R. (1983). Factor analysis (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Gray-Little, B., & Hafdahl, A. R. (2000). Factors influencing racial comparisons
of self esteem: A quantitative review. Psychological Bulletin, 126,26-54.
173-1 89.
2074 BROWN ET AL.
Helson, R., & Wink, P. (1 992). Personality change in women from the early 40s to the early 50s. Psychology andAging, 7,46-55.
Holmes-Rovner, M., Padonu, G., Kroll, J., Breer, L., Rovner, D. R., Talarczyk, G., et al. (1996). African American women’s attitudes and expectations of meno- pause. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 12,420-423.
Lippert, L. (1997). Women at midlife: Implications for theories of women’s adult development. Journal of Counseling and Development, 76, 16-22.
Matthews, K. A., Wing, R. R., Kuller, L. H., Meilahn, E. N., Kelsey, S. F., Costello, E. J., et al. (1 990). Influences of natural menopause on psychologi- cal characteristics and symptoms of middle-aged healthy women. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psycholoa, 58, 345-35 1.
Mays, V. M. (1995). Black women, work stress, and perceived discrimination: The focused support group model as an intervention for stress reduction. Cul- tural Diversity and Mental Health, l , 53-65.
Mays, V. M., & Comas-Diaz, L. (1988). Feminist therapy with ethnic minority populations: A closer look at Blacks and Hispanics. In M. A. Douglas & L. Walker (Eds.), Feminist psychotherapies: Integration of therapeutic and feminist systems (pp. 228-25 1). Nonvood, NJ: Ablex.
McKinlay, S., & Jefferys, M. (1974). The menopausal syndrome. British Journal of Preventative and Social Medicine, 28, 108-1 15.
Mitchell, V., & Helson, R. (1990). Women’s prime of life: Is it the ~ O S ? Psychol- ogy of Women Quarterly, 14,45 1-470.
Padonu, G., Holmes-Rovner, M., Rothert, M., Schmitt, N., Kroll, J., Rovner, D., et al. (1996). African American women’s perception of menopause. American Journal of Health Behavior, 20,242-25 1.
Poorman, P. B. (2002). Perceptions of thriving by women who have experienced abuse or status-related oppression. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 26,5 1-62.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1,
Raup, J., & Myers, J. (1989). The empty nest syndrome: Myth or reality? Journal of Counseling and Development, 68, 180- 183.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
Ryff, C. D. (1995). Psychological well-being in adult life. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 4, 99- 104.
Ryff, C. D., & Heidrich, S. M. (1997). Experience and well-being: Explorations on domains of life and how they matter. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 20, 193-206.
Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. (1998). The role of purpose in life and personal growth in human health. In P. T. Wong & P. S. Fry (Eds.), The human quest for
385-401.
57, 1069-1081.
HOW DO WOMEN VIEW THEMSELVES? 2075
meaning: A handbook of psychological research and clinical applications (pp. 213-235). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1985). Optimism, coping, and health: Assess- ment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies. Health Psychol-
Scheier, M. F., Owens, K. A. M. J. F., Magovern, G. J., Lefebvre, R. C., Abbott, R. A., & Carver, C. S . (1989). Dispositional optimism and recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery: The beneficial effects on physical and psy- chological well-being. Journal of Persona& and Social Psychology, 5 7,
Society for Research on Women in New Zealand. (1988). The time of our lives: A study of midlife women. Christchurch, New Zealand: Christchurch Branch of SRWO.
Sommer, B., Avis, N., Meyer, P., Ory, M., Madden, T., Kagawa-Singer, M., et al. (1 999). Attitudes toward menopause and aging across ethnichacia1 groups. Psychosomatic Medicine, 61, 868-875.
Standing, T., & Glazer, G. (1992). Attitudes of low income clinic patients toward menopause. Health Care for Women International, 13,271-280.
Stewart, A., Hays, R., & Ware, J. (1988). The MOS Short-Form General Health Survey. Reliability and validity in a patient population. Medical Care, 26,
Stewart, A. J., & Ostrove, J. M. (1998). Women’s personality in middle age: Gender, history, and midcourse corrections. American Psychologist, 53,
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behav- ior. In W. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 7-24). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Twenge, J. M., & Crocker, J. (2002). Race and self-esteem: Meta-analyses com- paring Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians, and comment on Gray-Little and Hafdahl (2000). Psychological Bulletin, 128,
Williams, P. G, Wiebe, D. J., & Smith, T. W. (1992). Coping processes as media- tors of the relationship between hardiness and health. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15,237-255.
ogy, 4,2 19-247.
1024-1 040.
724-735.
11 85-1 194.
371-408.