The Relationships Between Racial Discrimination, Gender Discrimination, Childhood Socialization Messages, and the Self-Esteems of Professional Black Women

Abstract

This study investigated the relationships between perceived racial discrimination, perceived gender discrimination, childhood socialization messages and the global and situational self-esteems of Professional Black women. The sample population was 119 Professional Black women. The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale Form C was used to measure global self-esteem. The Survey of Black Women's Perceptions was used to measure degree of self-esteem enhancement of childhood socialization messages, levels of success related to the Life Tasks of Work, Love, Friendship, and Relationship to God, and perceived frequency of experiences of racial and gender discrimination. The hypotheses were that the global self-esteems and the situational self - esteems of Professional Black women would be affected by perceived racial discrimination, perceived gender discrimination, and childhood socialization messages, and that the global self-esteems of Professional Black women would be affected by the Life Tasks of Work, Love, Friendship, and Relationship to God. Pearson product moment correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses. Although some of the findings were tentative and suggestive, the findings regarding global self-esteem, and the Life Tasks of Love and Friendship were highly significant. Global self-esteem was positively affected by all of the Life Tasks in general, by the Life Tasks of Love and Relationship to God in particular, and by gender discrimination from white men on the job. Global self-esteem was negatively affected by gender discrimination from white males outside of work. Global self-esteem was inversely correlated with racial discrimination from other Blacks outside of work and with gender discrimination from white males outside of work. Global self-esteem was positively correlated with all of the Life Tasks. The Life Task of Love was negatively affected by childhood socialization messages from women outside the family concerning what it meant to be female. The Life Task of Friendship was affected overall by the interaction of racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and childhood socialization messages, and in particular by childhood socialization messages from women outside the family concerning what it meant to be Black. Hypotheses concerning situational self-esteems related to the Life Tasks of Work and Relationship to God were not supported.