The Impact of John Henryism on Self-Reported Health Behaviors in African American Men

Purpose: African American men have poorer health and higher disease-related mortality as compared to non–African American men. John Henryism refers to the predisposition to engage in active high-effort coping with environmental stressors. Little is known about relationships between John Henryism and personal health behaviors in African American men. The study purposes were to examine predictive relationships among John Henryism, marital status, age, education years, and health insurance on health behaviors in African American men. Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study. Method: The convenience sample included 60 African American men (mean age 54.8 + 10.13) recruited from a large urban area in the Midwestern United States. Findings: John Henryism significantly predicted self-reported health behaviors accounting for 12% of the multiple regression model variance. Discussion and Conclusions: Results suggest that John Henryism could have benefits for African American men’s engagement in health behaviors. Implications for Practice: Findings provide early evidence to consider in the design of interventions aimed at promoting healthy behaviors in African American men.