The Strong Black Woman Concept: Associated Demographic Characteristics and Perceived Stress Among Black Women

Abstract

Being a “Strong Black Woman” (SBW) is a frequent cultural demand for Black Women. The physical and emotional disadvantages of this persistent racial gender role expectation are notable. The purpose of the current exploratory study was to (1) confirm a link between endorsement of the SBW schema and self-reported perceived stress and (2) investigate the potential demographic features that predict the level of endorsement of the SBW schema. A community sample of n = 185 Black women completed an online survey containing the Giscombé Superwoman Schema Questionnaire (Woods-Giscombé et al., 2019), the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (Cohen & Williamson, 1988), and a demographic questionnaire. The results indicated that more endorsement of SBW ideals uniquely predicted greater perceived stress. Also, only the demographic variables of age and number of children were predictors of SBW endorsement. Endorsement of SBW expectations did not vary across the other demographic variables indicating the SBW schema was prominent for most participants in the sample.