Same Destination, Gendered GPS: The Nuanced Navigation Toward John Henryism Among Black Americans

Background/Purpose: John Henryism, or high-effort coping, is a culturally-relevant coping style that reflects the context shaping the lived experiences of Black populations navigating racism and capitalism in the U.S. Although Black women and men engage in John Henryism at similarly high rates, it is unclear if the factors that shape development of John Henryism are the same for Black women and men. Therefore, the present study explored the determinants of John Henryism among Black Americans and assessed if these varied by gender.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the Nashville Stress and Health Study (NSAHS 2011-2014). Data and Sample: The analytic sample included 330 Black women and 297 Black men. Measures: Key variables for this study included John Henryism (α=0.72); childhood trauma, childhood SES; adulthood stress, a composite measure of five distinct dimensions of stress exposure: (1) adulthood trauma, (2) recent live events, (3) chronic stress, (4) discrimination stress, and (5) lifetime major and potentially traumatic events; adulthood SES, assessed via an index of (1) income, (2) occupational prestige, and (3) education; racial centrality (how central race is to one’s identity); closeness to other Black People or COBP (the extent to which Black people feel connected to, or share common experiences with other Black individuals); and optimism. Age was measured continuously in years.

Analysis: Linear regression was used to estimate beta coefficients and 95% confidence intervals. Analyses were gender-stratified, using STATA 18.0. Weighted means and proportions for key variables were calculated for the full sample and across gender groups. The following modeling strategy was used: Model 1: childhood trauma and childhood SES regressed on John Henryism; Model 2: adult SES regressed on John Henryism; Model 3: adulthood stress regressed on John Henryism; Model 4: racial centrality and COBP regressed on John Henryism; Model 5: optimism regressed on John Henryism; Model 6: all variables regressed on John Henryism. Each model included age as a covariate.

Results: Women and men reported similar characteristics, except for adult stress exposure. A greater proportion of women reported high adult stress exposure (37.47%; p<0.05), compared to men (23.64%). Findings indicate that among Black women, high racial centrality (β=3.22; p<0.01), and high optimism (β=2.83; p<0.05) explained the development of John Henryism above and beyond other factors (R²=0.15). However, results demonstrate that among Black men, moderate (β=3.96; p<0.001), and high racial centrality (β=3.43; p<0.001), moderate COBP (β=3.13; p<0.001), and high optimism (β=3.40; p<0.001) explained the development of John Henryism above and beyond other factors (R²=0.25). In other words, while racial centrality and optimism predicted John Henryism for women and men; COBP predicted John Henryism for Black men only.

Conclusions and Implications: The findings from this study demonstrate that while Black women and men engage in John Henryism at similar rates, the determinants of this culturally-relevant and high-effort coping style are gendered. Collectively, results illustrate the necessity of clarifying the role of gender in shaping the development of coping styles among Black Americans. This information can be utilized to develop culturally-relevant interventions that promote mental health and well-being.