Shifting Can Be Stressful for African American Women: A Structural Mediation Model

Abstract

The present study was designed to examine shifting, the phenomenon of altering or modifying one’s self-presentation in different social contexts, as a mediator of the predictive effects of African American women’s acculturation on their perceived race-related stress. To explore this issue, measures of African American acculturation, shifting, and race-related stress were examined within a structural model. The current study quantitatively examined the relationships of these variables among a sample of 366 African American women. Results of a structural equation model indicated full mediation; greater levels of immersion in African American acculturation resulted in greater levels of shifting, which, in turn, generated increased levels of race-related stress. These data extend previous work and expand the literature regarding African American women’s shifting. Implications for clinical work and future research with African American women are also discussed.

Keywords

African American women shifting acculturation race-related stressors

In order to cope with racialized contexts that are frequently perceived as racist and oppressive, some African American women engage in certain behaviors conceived as shifting (Johnson et al., 2016; Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2003), cultural frame switching (Benet-Martínez et al., in press; Hong et al., 2000), or role flexing (Balaji et al., 2012; Bry et al., 2017). Individuals who shift may feel compelled to alter their self-presentation in response to cultural or environmental cues, such as altering tone of voice, behaviors, and personal appearance, as well as being less conspicuous, sometimes without conscious awareness. Hence, shifting is defined as the alteration of one’s cultural self-portrayal in response to perceived social demands (Gamst et al., 2019; Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2003).

Shifting can serve as a means of coping with a potentially hostile environment (Johnson et al., 2016; Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2003). However, engaging in shifting-related behaviors can be stressful for some African American women of various identities (Donovan & West, 2015). To explore more fully how African American women utilize their psychological resources to shift in various contexts, we briefly explore two potentially important factors that may influence shifting behavior. These are race-related stress and African American acculturation. An overview of the developing psychological literature on the construct of shifting follows.

Stress

Scholars and researchers propose that race-related stress is a chronic stressor for many African Americans (Clark et al., 1999; Harrell, 2000). Race-related stress is defined as the “race-related transactions between individuals or groups and their environment that emerge from the dynamics of racism, and that are perceived to tax or exceed existing individual and collective resources or threaten well-being” (Harrell, 2000, p. 44). As a chronic and multifaceted stressor, race-related stress is associated with decreased physical, psychological, social, functional, and spiritual well-being (Harrell, 2000). Race-related stress exists at multiple levels and rooted in complex systems of power and privilege (Greer et al., 2009), such as interpersonal, institutional, environmental, and cultural domains (Clark et al., 1999; Harrell, 2000). For example, as a social stressor, institutional racism creates differential access to resources and power based on race, and is frequently observed within housing, banking, employment, and the judicial system, as well as health and mental health care systems (Greer et al., 2009; Williams & Mohammed, 2013). Therein, institutional racism may create additive stressors for African American women, and potentially threaten their families and communities via poverty, limited social mobility, residential segregation, low educational attainment, violence, racial profiling, high incarceration rates, and other forms of inequality (Clark et al., 1999; Gilbert & Ray, 2016).

Previous meta-analytic studies have demonstrated associations between race-related stressors, and health and mental health outcomes (Paradies et al., 2015; Pascoe & Smart Richman, 2009; Pieterse et al., 2012), including hypertension, poor health, breast cancer, as well as risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, and substance use. As a chronic social stressor, race-related discrimination is associated with heightened physiological responses (e.g., elevated blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol secretions) and disproportionate physiological deterioration (Ong et al., 2017; Williams & Mohammed, 2009). Among African American women, negative health outcomes are associated with race-related stress, such as hypertension and ambulatory nighttime blood pressure (Dolezsar et al., 2014), cardiovascular disease (Hall et al., 2012), smoking (Fernander et al., 2008), diabetes (Hall et al., 2012), obesity (Cozier et al., 2016), and adverse birth outcomes (Dominguez, 2010). In terms of mental health, race-related stress is associated with decreased mental health among African Americans. For example, epidemiological data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies indicated that race-related stress was associated with major depressive disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, posttraumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse disorders among African Americans (Chou et al., 2012).

African American women may experience other forms of discrimination, such as sexism, classism, homophobia, and other stressors, by virtue of their intersecting identities that compound their race-related stressors. Black feminist scholars argue that African American women experience gendered racism (Collins, 2000; Essed, 1991), a unique form of bias that occurs due to simultaneous experiences of racism and sexism. Gendered racism is associated with negative perceptions, stereotypes, or images of African American women that uniquely affect their mental health (Jones & Shorter Gooden, 2003; Thomas et al., 2008). For example, in a qualitative study of work-related stressors among middle-class African American women (Hall et al., 2012), participants described racism and sexism as workplace stressors due to stereotypes from their employers and coworkers, as well as intragroup racism from other African Americans. Holder et al. (2015) also found that professional African American women reported exclusion in corporate America, and despite their senior level positions, their overall competence, intellect, and authority were often challenged in the workplace. Stressors affecting African American women, in and out of the work environment, may be influenced by their acculturation level or acculturation strategy; a topic which we now address.

Acculturation

One important means of understanding African American women’s race-related stress includes the examination of acculturation or individual change within behavioral, cognitive, and affective domains as a function of intercultural contact (Gamst et al., 2011; Kim & Abreu, 2001). A number of acculturation theoretical frameworks for African Americans have been postulated that include most prominently unidirectional and bidirectional conceptualizations. Both frameworks have resulted in meaningful and reliable acculturative findings with African Americans. Unidimensional models purport to place individuals on a single acculturation continuum of greater or lesser immersion in African American culture. These unidimensional conceptualizations postulate either no sociocultural lifestyle or dimensionality variability (Grills & Longshore, 1996; Snowden & Hines, 1999) or postulate several salient lifestyle facets or dimensions (Landrine & Klonoff, 1996a, 1996b; Reid et al., 2009). Landrine and Klonoff (1996a) conceptualized African American acculturation from a continuum where traditional or less acculturated individuals are immersed in African American beliefs, practices, and cultural values, and more acculturated individuals are more likely to reject the beliefs and practices of African American culture in favor of the dominant mainstream society.

Conversely, bidirectional conceptualizations attempt to situate individuals simultaneously on two orthogonal continua (African American culture and mainstream culture) that represent several acculturation strategies that individuals may employ (Cole & Jacob Arriola, 2007; Obasi & Leong, 2010) and align with Berry’s (2003) conceptualization of acculturation. Berry (2003) proposed four acculturation strategies (separated, assimilated, marginalized, and integrated) to account for individual differences for mainstream and ethnic (African American immersed) acculturative processes. “Mainstream” in the present study should be considered a euphemism for discussions regarding the emphasis on “Whiteness” as a standard in U.S. culture. An application of Berry’s (2003) theory would suggest that African American women who operate from a separated acculturation strategy maintain strong positive ties to their African culture of origin and tend to avoid associating with mainstream culture. In the same vein, Assimilated African American women would reject African culture and align with mainstream culture. However, marginalized African American women would not relate to either African or mainstream culture. Last, African American women with an integrated acculturation strategy would relate well to both African and mainstream cultures. According to Anderson (1991), many African Americans have not assimilated into mainstream culture. Thus, some African Americans may experience acculturative stress while attempting to navigate between mainstream cultural values of individualism and independence, and African American (ethnic) core cultural values of collectivism and family interdependence (Thompson et al., 2010; Walker, 2007).

Acculturation and Stress

There is scant empirical research regarding the association of African American acculturation and race-related stress. In a related vein, Mills et al. (2017) suggested that the relationship between African American acculturation and health behaviors is at best inconsistent and thus warrants additional empirical investigation. For example, in a systematic review regarding the health and acculturation of African Americans, Mills et al. (2017) initially identified 810 unique titles but only 21 articles met their criteria for inclusion (e.g., empirical studies that specifically examined acculturation and health behaviors among African Americans) in the review. Mills et al. (2017), following the lead of Landrine and Klonoff (1996a), speculated that the paucity of acculturation studies with African Americans was perhaps due to two historical precursors: (a) some psychologists assumed that African Americans lacked a coherent cultural schema due the legacy of over 300 years of slavery; and (b) African Americans were historically regarded as a racial group in which physical differences were studied, as opposed to an ethnic group where cultural differences are often examined.

Nonetheless a few studies are notable. Landrine and Klonoff (1996b; using a unidirectional framework) reported that less acculturated (more traditional) African Americans had greater lifetime race-related stress than their more acculturated (less immersed in African American culture) counterparts. Landrine and Klonoff (1996b) explained that greater cultural self-immersion was associated with greater awareness and expectations of racism. In a related unidirectional study, Jackson (2011) also found that less acculturated (traditional) African American women experienced greater race-related stress than their counterparts. Similarly, in reviewing literature on African American acculturation and suicide risk (from a unidirectional perspective), Walker (2007) observed a positive association between assimilation (adopting mainstream values, beliefs, and practices) and negative consequences such as suicide risk. Likewise, Castle et al. (2011; also operating from a unidirectional framework) found greater perceived acculturation to mainstream society was associated with greater suicide ideation among African American young adults.

Researchers have also observed a link between alcohol abuse and acculturation among African Americans. For example, Abdullah and Brown (2012) used a bidirectional framework of acculturation and examined its relation to alcohol use among African American college students. Students who utilized a marginal acculturation strategy (i.e., those who rejected both African American and mainstream culture) reported less frequent drinking, while students with an assimilationist acculturative strategy (i.e., those who rejected African American culture in favor of mainstream culture) drank more frequently. Correspondingly, Smith (2000) found (within a bicultural framework) that acculturative strategy (assimilation to mainstream culture) and acculturative stress were predictors of alcohol consumption and negative drinking consequences among African American students.

From this limited body of work on the effects of African American acculturation, either unidirectionally or bidirectionally conceptualized, we can observe that perceived stress and other negative health-related outcomes (e.g., substance abuse, suicide risk) are influenced by an individual’s acculturation status. Studies operating from a more unidirectional conceptual stance appear to indicate that less acculturated or more culturally traditional African Americans may experience greater levels of perceived stress. Studies employing a more bidirectional conceptualization of acculturation appear to suggest that assimilationist (mainstream) acculturation strategies utilized by African Americans may be associated with more negative health consequences. Clearly, the interpretation of these acculturation studies depends in part on the framework that one uses to interpret impact. At times, adopting a more culturally immersive African American orientation appears to offset some of the deleterious effects of oppressive environments. Therefore, the question we examine in the present study is whether African American women’s unidirectionally conceptualized acculturation positively predicts increased race-related stress or whether their acculturation is mediated by shifting as a coping mechanism.

Shifting

Shifting is a coping mechanism that appears double-edged for African American women. For instance, shifting can be considered a strategically assertive response and mental affirmation for African American women and allows them to persevere and protect themselves from the possibility of perceived pain and inequities found in many racialized contexts (Allison, 2010; Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2003). In their seminal study, Jones and Shorter-Gooden (2003) examined a national sample of highly educated African American women (N = 404), and their qualitative and quantitative assessments found that shifting entailed cognitive, physical, and linguistic alterations. In particular, shifting included altering their behavior, mannerisms, or appearance to fit in with White Americans, as well as altering their speech or topic of conversations. A second aspect of shifting also included sensitivity to the perceptions of other African Americans (Johnson et al., 2016). African American women may submerge their abilities, accomplishments, and strengths to support African American men or engage in certain behaviors to avoid accusations from community and family members that they “sold out” (Johnson et al., 2016; Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2003).

As a subconscious and conscious activity, shifting can sometimes compromise African American women’s physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. For example, Jones and Shorter-Gooden (2003) found that shifting was associated with emotional eating, compulsive shopping, and substance use, as well as anxiety and depressive symptoms. Within organizational contexts, Allison (2010) suggested that shifting was indicative of self-reflection and intellectual work among African American women but required “extra time and energy to navigate.” While negative aspects of shifting have been documented, facets of shifting as a positive and adaptive coping mechanism among African American women have also been noted (Johnson et al., 2016).

Alternatively, African American women may shift to better facilitate their communication with others. Jones and Shorter-Gooden (2003) found that shifting was a positive coping mechanism, as it empowered African American women to utilize their voice to challenge and overcome gendered racism, and engage in social justice. It is plausible that African American women shift in various problematic situations and shift to accommodate class, gender, as well as racial and ethnic differences (Allison, 2010). Thus, the question of interest is, “what are the consequences of shifting and does it mediate the effects of acculturation in predicting race-related stress among African American women?” The present study should begin to address the dual-role nature of shifting by elucidating circumstances when shifting provides either an adaptive or maladaptive set of coping mechanisms for African American women.

The Current Study

The present study extends the limited research on African American women’s shifting and connects it to the acculturation and race-related stress literature. Furthermore, this study attempts to directly examine the “costs” associated with the shifting mechanism among African American women. This study is important given the scant literature that specifically links the coping efforts (e.g., shifting) of African American women to negative health outcomes such as increased stress (Donovan & West, 2015; Everett et al., 2010; Greer, 2011; Greer et al., 2009). The present structural model (see Figure 1) extends this line of work by directly measuring acculturation and shifting and their predictive relationship to race-related stress.

Figure 1.

A conceptual model with acculturation affecting race-related stress through the mediation effects of shifting.

We hypothesize that African American women’s acculturation status will predict increases in their race-related stress when mediated by increases in participant shifting. Toward this end, we selected a unidirectional construct to assess acculturation status, a multidimensional construct of shifting served as our mediator, and a multidimensional construct of race-related stress served as the predicted outcome variable. An exploratory structural model was configured based partly on the shifting literature (Johnson et al., 2016; Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2003). In this conceptual model, as shown in Figure 1, acculturation was proposed to affect race-related stress through the mediation effects of Shifting.

Method

Participants

Participants (N = 366) included a convenience sample of U.S. African American women. Their ages ranged between 18 and 78 years (M = 31.70, SD = 9.13) and their annual household income was approximately $50,000 (M = $49,494, SD = $28,124). Participants’ education included bachelor’s degrees (42.6%), some college (37.4%), graduate degrees (10.4%), and high school degrees or less (9.6%). Last, a majority were single, never married (53.3%), married (37.7%), divorced/separated (7.9%), widowed, or other (1.1).

Measures

Demographic information

The demographic information included five items regarding participants’ age, race and ethnicity, education, marital status, and income.

African American Acculturation Scale

The African American Acculturation Scale (AAAS; Reid et al., 2009; Snowden & Hines, 1999) has been reported to be a 10-item self-report unidirectional and multidimensional measure of African American acculturation that examines the following domains that were derived by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA): Media preferences (three items; music, radio, television), social interaction patterns (four items; friends, church, neighborhood), and attitudes (three items; interracial marriage, social support from relatives). A sample item includes the following: “When you listen to music, you prefer Black rather than White music.” All items of the AAAS were measured on a 4-point Likert-type scale that ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). A mean score based on the full AAAS was computed for each respondent. Higher mean scores indicated greater immersion in African American culture, whereas lower scores indicated less immersion in African American culture and greater orientation to mainstream culture. Rationale for utilizing the unidimensional AAAS total score and not the multidimensional three-scale structure will be noted in the Results section.

Reid et al. (2009) reported a Cronbach’s α of .85 (total score) for their sample. For the present study, a Cronbach’s α of .86 was obtained for the AAAS total scores. Also, Reid et al. also reported that the AAAS total score and its subscales were not correlated with a set of conceptually relevant variables (p > .05). While no evidence of convergent validity was reported for the AAAS, Reid et al. (2009) reported evidence of discriminant validity with the lack of correlation (r = .04) between the AAAS and the Community Participation Scale (Speer & Peterson, 2000).

African American Women’s Shifting Scale

The African American Women’s Shifting Scale (AAWSS; Johnson et al., 2016) is a 13-item multidimensional self-report measure of African American women’s shifting or self-altering strategies used to cope within different cultural environments. The AAWSS includes three subscales based on exploratory and CFAs (Johnson et al., 2016): Strong Black Woman (five items) “I deny my own feelings of pain and sadness most of the time”; Awareness of Shifting Behavior (five items) “I have a different self at school (or work) than at home”; and Sensitivity to the Perceptions of Blacks (three items) “I feel pressure to prove to Black friends and family that I have not ‘sold out.’” The Strong Black Woman subscale reflects the perceived obligation to manifest emotional strength and prohibition of vulnerability despite challenging circumstances. The Awareness of Shifting Behavior subscale reflects the alteration of one’s self-image within racialized contexts. Last, the Sensitivity to the Perception of Blacks subscale focuses on one’s home community where shifting reinforces one’s immersion in African American cultural values and aspirations. All items were measured on a 4-point Likert-type scale with values ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). Higher mean scores indicated greater shifting attitudes. A composite average was computed for each subscale.

Johnson et al. (2016) reported the following Cronbach’s α coefficients for the AAWSS scores: Strong Black Woman (.78), Awareness of Shifting Behavior (.74), and Sensitivity to the Perceptions of Blacks (.73). For the present study, internal consistency values included Strong Black Woman (.70), Awareness of Shifting Behavior (.80), and Sensitivity to the Perceptions of Blacks (.70) for the three AAWSS subscales. Subscales were derived by means of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and CFAs, which supported the three-factor structure. Johnson et al. (2016) provided evidence of convergent validity with moderate positive correlations among the three AAWSS subscales and the Stereotype Confirmation Concern Scale (Contrada et al., 2001; rs = .25 to .36), as well as discriminant validity with negative correlations among the three AAWSS subscales and the Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale, Racial Privilege subscale (Neville et al., 2000; rs = −.14 to −.19).

Index of Race-Related Stress-Brief Version

The Index of Race-Related Stress-Brief Version (IRRS-B; Utsey, 1999) is a 22-item, multidimensional, self-report measure of stress appraisals at individual, institutional, and cultural levels, and includes three subscales, developed by means of EFA and CFAs. An example item from the Individual Racism subscale (6 items) is, “you notice that crimes committed by White people tend to be romanticized, whereas the same crime committed by a Black person is portrayed as savagery, and the Black person who committed it is an animal.” An example item from the Institutional Racism subscale (6 items) is, “While shopping at a store the sales clerk assumed that you couldn’t afford certain items (e.g., you were directed toward the items on sale).” Last, an example item from the Cultural Racism subscale (10 items) is, “You have observed situations where other Blacks were treated harshly or unfairly by Whites/non-Blacks due to their race.” All items are rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale with anchors of 0 (this never happened to me) and 4 (this event happened and I was extremely upset). Higher scores indicated greater levels of perceived stress.

Utsey (1999) reported Cronbach’s α coefficients of .78, .69, and .78 for the scores of Individual Racism, Institutional Racism, and Cultural Racism, respectively. For the present study, internal consistency values were .85, .80, and .90 for the scores of the three IRRS-B subscales, respectively. Utsey (1999) provided evidence of convergent validity by demonstrating moderate positive correlations between the IRRS-B subscales and the Racism and Life Experience Scales-Revised (Harrell, 1997). Utsey (1999) demonstrated discriminant validity of the scores of the three IRRS-B subscales by means of a multivariate analysis of variance that differentiated African American and White American participants on each of the three subscales.

Procedure

The university’s institutional review board approved the current study. Participants were recruited online through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk; N = 366) and compensated $1.00 each, an amount that is higher than typical compensation for MTurk participation. Compensation typically averages 5 or 10 cents for 5- to 10-minute tasks on MTurk (Buhrmester et al., 2011). In order to participate in the study, individuals were initially screened with qualifying questions that identified them as African American women who were 18 years or older and who permanently resided in the United States. Individuals who did not meet the screening criteria were not allowed to proceed with the study. Once potential participants were screened and agreed to complete the questionnaire they were presented with a consent form that highlighted the voluntary and anonymous nature of their participation. They were also advised of their right to withdraw at any time during this study. After participants acknowledged that they understood their rights and consented to participate in the study, they completed the study’s questionnaire. Respondents took between 15 and 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire. All scales were randomly presented to each participant. A manipulation check helped ensure participants paid attention to the questions and provided adequate answers.

Results

Preliminary Analyses

The obtained data included 423 participants and were reviewed for completeness and distributional issues. Fifty-seven cases were removed due to failure to complete the set of questionnaires, resulting in a dropout rate of 2.17% and a total viable sample of 366 participants. Diagnostic analyses indicated that there were no univariate or multivariate outliers. The skewness and kurtosis for the scale and subscale scores were relatively close to normal, ranging from −0.444 to 0.073 (skewness) and −0.527 to 0.205 (kurtosis). Thus, the distributions were deemed appropriate for inclusion in subsequent analyses. The means, standard deviations, internal consistency reliabilities for the scale and subscale scores used in the present study and their intercorrelations are presented in Table 1. The values were generally in the range of those reported in the appropriate multicultural psychology literature (see Gamst et al., 2011). All scale and subscale scores achieved a minimally acceptable level of internal consistency (with one exception noted below). The three IRRS-B subscales (Individualism, Institutional, and Cultural) were fairly highly correlated (r = .73 to .85, ps < .01) but nevertheless appeared to represent conceptually distinct aspects of these African American women’s experiences with racism (see also Utsey, 1999). The scores of the acculturation (AAAS) scale and the shifting (AAWSS) subscales achieved low to moderate correlation (rs = .24 to .46, ps < .01) with the scores of the IRRS-B subscales.

Table 1.

Means, Standard Deviations, Reliabilities, and Intercorrelations of Key Variables (N = 366).

	Descriptive statistics							Correlations
	M	SD	Min	Max	Skewness	Kurtosis	α	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1. Individual	2.86	1.03	1	5	0.042	−0.512	.85	—	.85*	.76*	.26*	.38*	.37*	.27*
2. Institutional	2.84	1.00	1	5	−0.097	−0.527	.80		—	.73*	.28*	.37*	.39*	.32*
3. Cultural	3.22	0.97	1	5	−0.444	−0.078	.90			—	.30*	.43*	.46*	.24*
4. Acculturation	2.57	0.65	1	4	−0.060	0.009	.86				—	.29*	.33*	.33*
5. SBW	2.66	0.57	1	4	−0.196	0.205	.70					—	.46*	.44*
6. ASB	2.60	0.68	1	4	−0.295	0.009	.80						—	.46*
7. SPB	2.34	0.72	1	4	0.073	−0.231	.70							—

Note: Individual = IRRSB Individual Racism subscale; Institutional = IRRSB Institutional Racism subscale; Cultural = IRRSB Cultural Racism subscale; Acculturation = African American Acculturation Scale; SBW = AAWSS Strong Black Woman subscale; ASB = AAWSS Awareness of Shifting Behavior subscale; SPB = AAWSS Sensitivity to the Perceptions of Blacks subscale.

p < .01.

Because we obtained a relatively low reliability for the AAAS-Attitudes subscale (α = .52; the reliabilities of the other two subscales were each .81), we explored the possibility of using the full-scale score to represent the general construct of Acculturation using a principal axis factor analysis of this 10-item measure (Watkins, 2018). The single-factor solution yielded an eigenvalue of 4.52 and accounted for 45.20% of the common variance. Furthermore, a scree plot strongly confirmed the unidimensional structure of this measure with the present sample, and thus the total scale score was used to represent Acculturation in the present study.

Analysis of the Structural Model

To explore the process of the acculturation and shifting constructs on their capacity to predict race-related stress among African American women, the following structural model was configured. A structural model was configured, as shown in Figure 2, with the measured variable of Acculturation (assessed by the AAAS) predicting a latent variable representing experiences with race-related stress (indicated by the three subscales of the IRRS-B, Utsey, 1999). The latent variable of shifting with the three subscales of the AAWSS (Johnson et al., 2016) was proposed as a mediator.

Figure 2.

Structural model of race-related stress (N = 366).

Measurement Model

Using IBM SPSS Amos 24 to analyze the raw data, the measurement model was evaluated first (Kline, 2015) using maximum likelihood to determine the degree to which the model fit the data. It is generally the case that the Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), the comparative fit index (CFI), and the incremental fit index (IFI) indicate good levels of fit with values of .95 or greater (e.g., Brown, 2015). Values of the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) between equal or greater than .07 and equal or less than .08 indicate a moderate fit, whereas values greater than .08 but equal or less than .10 indicate a marginal fit (Brown & Cudeck, 1993; Muthén & Muthén, 2010).

For the present analysis, although the chi-square test was statistically significant (13, N = 366) = 46.430, p < .001), the TLI (.95), the CFI (.97), the IFI (.97) all yielded good levels of fit. The RMSEA yielded a value of .09 (90% CI: .063–.116), which represented a marginal fit. Given the possible range of the RMSEA and the other fit indices, it appears that the model yielded a marginal to good fit to the data. The measured variables appeared to be viable indexes of their respective factors, with the pattern coefficients ranging from .64 to .93 (all ps < .001).

The structural mediation model yielded the same fit index values as the measurement model and explained 35% of the variance of race-related stress. The paths from Acculturation to Shifting (standardized path coefficient = 0.466, unstandardized path coefficient = 0.342 with a standard error of 0.046, p < .001) and from shifting to race-related stress (standardized path coefficient = 0.570, unstandardized path coefficient = 1.147 with a standard error of 0.158, p < .001) were statistically significant and reasonably robust. An Aroian (1947) test, one variation of the Sobel (1982, 1986) test family, demonstrated that this indirect path was statistically significant (z = 5.22, p < .001).

The direct path from acculturation to race-related stress was not statistically significant in the full model (standardized path coefficient = .039, unstandardized path coefficient = 0.057 with a standard error of 0.087, p = .512), suggesting the possibility that Shifting might have mediated any predictive influence of acculturation on race-related stress. To clarify that possibility, the unmediated model was examined. In the reduced model, acculturation did significantly predict race-related stress (standardized path coefficient = .302, unstandardized path coefficient = 0.449 with a standard error of 0.077, p < .001).

A Freedman-Schatzkin (Freedman & Schatzkin, 1992) test (which is designed to determine if the strength of two path coefficients is significantly different) compared the direct coefficients in the two models and verified that the direct path coefficient in the unmediated model (with a standardized path coefficient of 0.302) was significantly stronger than the corresponding coefficient (with a standardized path coefficient of 0.039) in the mediated model t(364) = 13.08, p < .001. It thus appears that Shifting fully mediated the influence of acculturation on race-related stress. For these African American women, greater African American cultural immersion predicted higher levels of race-related stress. However, the predictive effects of acculturation appeared to be driven by the use of increased shifting coping strategies that in turn generated increased levels of race-related stress; that is, greater African American acculturative immersion was associated with greater coping shifting strategies, which in turn produced higher levels of race-related stress.

Discussion

The present study examined the direct and indirect predictive relationship of African American women’s acculturation to their perceived race-related stress, with shifting as a possible mediator. Greater immersion in African American culture did not directly predict race-related stress. Instead, African American immersion (i.e., acculturation) produced a powerful predictive effect through increases in the coping mechanism of shifting, which, in turn, produced an increase in race-related stress, as hypothesized.

In examining direct effects only, our findings partially support those of Landrine and Klonoff (1996b), who observed the direct effect that African Americans with greater African American cultural immersion reported greater race-related stress than their counterparts. The same goes for Jackson (2011) who found that African American women with greater cultural immersion reported greater race-related stress. These direct effect results appear to suggest that greater African American cultural immersion may lead to higher levels of race-related stress and may contribute to greater expectations of race-related stress.

Our findings extend those of Greer et al. (2009), who found that increased severity in psychological symptoms was associated with individual race-related stress among African American women, and Greer (2011), who found that higher use of ritual-centered coping efforts (e.g., lighting candles, burning incense, belief in the mystical powers of religious symbols) increased anxiety and interpersonal sensitivity symptoms associated with race-related stress. The current study adds to this psychological literature by focusing on a specific coping mechanism employed by some African American women as a mediator (i.e., shifting) to cope with race-related stress. Our findings also support those of Johnson et al. (2016) who observed that the perceived demands by some African American women to engage in shifting behavior is perhaps best understood within their racialized contexts. For instance, greater expectations of gendered-racism (i.e., oppression due to the intersection of race and gender as a result of negative perceptions, stereotypes, or images of African American women) may lead to greater tendencies to engage in shifting to minimize the degree of discriminatory behaviors that are directed toward them. Because African American women may expect to experience gendered racism, shifting as a coping strategy, may enable them to cloak themselves in the ways of the dominant society to potentially minimize their stressors by altering their mindsets, speech, behavior, mannerisms, or appearance to fit in with White Americans or resist racist stereotypes (Allison, 2010; Holder et al., 2015; Johnson et al., 2016; Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2003).

The current study also supports the work of prior studies on the race-related stressors of middle-class African American women in their workplace (Bacchus, 2008; Hall et al., 2012; Holder et al., 2015). Because of their experiences with gendered racism, African American women may perceive the need to engage in shifting behaviors on a daily basis to strategically increase their sense of belonging, emphasize commonalities or competitive gain, or overcome perceived stereotypes of inferiority within the workplace (Allison, 2010). Also, because gendered-racism in the workplace is a chronic stressor for African American women (Allison, 2010; Hall et al., 2012), these findings underscore the importance of examining the experiences of gendered-racism and the mediating effects of shifting.

We note several limitations when considering the results of our study. A cross-sectional design was employed in the present study, which eliminated the possibility of examining causal, longitudinal, culture-specific outcomes. Two, participants consisted of a convenience sample that may not represent all African American women. Three, the present study used a unidimensional measure of acculturation and did not capture the broad dimensions or facets of sociocultural experience embodied in the acculturation construct for African Americans. Four, while we compensated our MTurk participants above the standard wage normally employed (Buhrmester et al., 2011); nevertheless, our compensation was below minimum wage norms and may have inadvertently affected participants’ motivation to complete questionnaire. Five, the present sample was skewed with predominantly college-educated African American women. These women may be even more likely to interact with White Americans and thus need to engage in more shifting behaviors on a daily basis. Hence, future research should consider sampling a broader selection of working class African American women. Finally, this study was based on self-report scales, typical in quantitative studies, and may have not captured all of the subtle references and insights that a more qualitative study might have assessed.

Nevertheless, these results may have important clinical implications for African American women. Their experiences of gendered racism and other forms of oppression (e.g., heterosexism, classism) need to be validated in order to build trust and establish a therapeutic alliance (Comas-Díaz, 2013; Everett et al., 2010; Holder et al., 2015). Because shifting is influenced by interactions with different groups of people within various contexts, practitioners should consider the intersecting identities of African American women and the factors that may compromise and enhance their well-being (Comas-Díaz, 2013; Everett et al., 2010; Holder et al., 2015; Thomas et al., 2008). It is also helpful for practitioners to explore the origins of their clients’ shifting to help them understand the costs and benefits of shifting. Doing so will help clients understand the paradoxical nature of shifting and its effects. The pressure to accommodate their White American colleagues, appease their friends and family members, and placate their middle-class peers may be taxing (Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2003; Shorter-Gooden, 2004). Thus, practitioners should work toward helping their clients understand how the pressure to alter themselves cognitively, behaviorally, and linguistically within various contexts, such as workplace, college settings, homes, or interpersonal relationships, may potentially compromise their physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

Conversely, while shifting may compromise the well-being of some African American women, as a coping mechanism, shifting may also help African American women engage in social justice and cope with their experiences of gendered racism and other types of bigotry. For example, as an adaptive survival mechanism, shifting allows African American women to “actively stand up and fight back” and directly challenge sources of bias and stereotypes (Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2003; Shorter-Gooden, 2004). Jones and Shorter-Gooden (2003) note that shifting and fighting back is a proactive form of shifting, as it allows African American women to challenge and overcome oppression rather than simply reacting it. Moreover, fighting back enables African American women to move beyond their initial shame and engage in healthy self-love and respect. Because African American women utilize various coping strategies to deal with their experiences of gendered racism, practitioners should also explore the use of other coping strategies, such as religion, spirituality, social support, armoring, collective coping, and others (Greer, 2011; Holder et al., 2015; Shorter-Gooden, 2004).

It is critical for practitioners to provide psychoeducation regarding the multidimensional nature of race-related stress, as clients who report shifting at higher levels may also demonstrate increased susceptibility to mental health issues (Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2003; Johnson et al., 2016). Practitioners might lessen the potential impact of race-related stress through interventions that validate and support their experiences via culturally specific interventions, such as the use of Sister Circles. According to Neal-Barnett et al. (2011), Sister Circles provide African American women with safe spaces and enhance their well-being. These safe spaces can provide African American women with a forum to address the challenges of shifting and other related areas.

Other interventions for African American women may include the use of complementary and alternative medicine, such as yoga, to help decrease their stressors (Comas-Díaz, 2013; Woods-Giscombé & Black, 2010). Woods-Giscombé and Black (2010) indicate that mind-body interventions are culturally relevant for African American women, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (Kabat-Zinn, 2005), loving-kindness meditation (Salzberg, 1995), and NTU psychotherapy (Phillips, 1990), as these approaches may help decrease their stress. Similarly, creative approaches are also beneficial as therapeutic techniques, and help African American women reclaim their voices (Comas-Díaz, 2013) through music, visual arts, movement-based creative expressions, creative writing, plastic arts, and others (Comas-Díaz, 2013; Neal-Barnett et al., 2011).

Last, prevention programs and community outreach are also essential. Ideally, these outreach programs should take place with trusted community agencies, such as churches, organizations, hair salons, and other locations that are frequented by African American women. In addition, outreach efforts are needed for college students. College counseling centers should develop education campaigns geared toward African American female students that normalize seeking therapy and also reframe strength as asking for help rather than suffering in silence (Donovan & West, 2015).

Conclusion

Because of the potential vulnerability of African American women to race-related stress and other psychological symptoms, this study provides another empirical block toward building a complete foundational understanding of how African American women cope with their day-to-day environments. Researchers should continue to explore the role of shifting within racialized contexts among African American women, particularly within mental health settings. Therefore, future research should continue to explore under what conditions and situations/settings is shifting taxing versus empowering. In addition, researchers should explore shifting among other vulnerable populations, such as African American men and other women of color, to determine its applicability.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Glenn Gamst

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