John Henryism, gender, and arterial blood pressure in an African American community
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine the interaction between gender and John Henryism in relationship to arterial blood pressure in an African American community in the Southern United States. It was hypothesized that, within this specific social and cultural context, John Henryism would be associated with blood pressure differently for men and women. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 600 persons, aged 25 to 65, was conducted in the African American community of a small Southern city. John Henryism was assessed using the 12-item John Henryism Scale for Active Coping. Blood pressure was assessed by conventional methods. RESULTS: The interaction effect between gender and John Henryism was assessed as a cross-product term in ordinary least squares regression analysis using arterial blood pressure as the dependent variable, and with logistic regression using hypertension as the dependent variable. This interaction effect was significant (p < .05) in relation to systolic blood pressure and hypertension, with the effect evident (p < .07) in relation to diastolic blood pressure. For men, as John Henryism increases, blood pressure and the risk of hypertension increases. For women, as John Henryism increases, blood pressure and the risk of hypertension decreases. CONCLUSIONS: The association of the behavioral disposition of John Henryism with blood pressure is dependent on the gender of the individual. Men and women face differing cultural expectations and social structural constraints in this community. The sociocultural context modifies the meaning of the behavioral disposition, and hence its effects.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Some research suggests there may be important gender differences in the health consequences of John Henryism.
“some research suggests that there may be important gender differences in its health consequences”
From Is John Henryism a Health Risk or Resource?: Exploring the Role of Culturally Relevant Coping for Physical and Mental Health among Black Americans. (2021) · cites this paper as Dressler, Bindon, and Neggers 1998
One recent study found no association among a community sample of African American women, whereas another found a protective association among a sample of Black women in the South.
“One recent study found no association among a community sample of African American women (Michaels et al., 2019), whereas another found a protective association among a sample of Black women in the South (Dressler et al., 1998).”
From Superwoman Schema and John Henryism among African American women: An intersectional perspective on coping with racism (2023) · cites this paper as Dressler et al., 1998
Few studies examined the John Henryism-hypertension association with separate estimates for women or in samples of only women.
“Few studies examined the John Henryism-hypertension association with separate estimates for women or in samples of only women (Dressler et al., 1998;LeBrón et al., 2015;Michaels et al., 2019).”
From Superwoman Schema and John Henryism among African American women: An intersectional perspective on coping with racism (2023) · cites this paper as Dressler et al., 1998
Cites
Racial and gender discrimination: risk factors for high blood pressure?
Krieger, N. (1990) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/0277-9536(90)90307-e · Cited by 929 · see citing works
John Henryism and the health of African-Americans
James, S. A. (1994) · Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/bf01379448 · Cited by 649 · see citing works
John Henryism and blood pressure differences among Black Men
James, S. A., Hartnett, S. A., & Kalsbeek, W. D. (1983) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/bf01315113 · Cited by 569 · see citing works
Precision grips, hand morphology, and tools
Marzke, M. W. (1997) · American Journal of Physical Anthropology · doi:10.1002/(sici)1096-8644(199701)102:1 · Cited by 428 · see citing works
Teenage childbearing as an alternative life-course strategy in multigeneration black families
Burton, L. M. (1990) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/bf02692149 · Cited by 404 · see citing works
SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, JOHN HENRYISM, AND HYPERTENSION IN BLACKS AND WHITES
JAMES, S. A., STROGATZ, D. S., WING, S. B., & RAMSEY, D. L. (1987) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114706 · Cited by 315 · see citing works
John Henryism and blood pressure differences among black men. II. The role of occupational stressors
James, S. A., LaCroix, A. Z., Kleinbaum, D. G., & Strogatz, D. S. (1984) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/bf00845359 · Cited by 204 · see citing works
Socioeconomic Status, John Henryism, and Blood Pressure in Black Adults
James, S. A., Keenan, N. L., Strogatz, D. S., Browning, S. R., & Garrett, J. M. (1992) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116202 · Cited by 193 · see citing works
Health in the African American Community: Accounting for Health Inequalities
Dressler, W. W. (1993) · Medical Anthropology Quarterly · doi:10.1525/maq.1993.7.4.02a00030 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Self-citationHypertension in the African American community: social, cultural, and psychological factors.
Dressler, W. W. (1996) · PubMed · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Self-citationModeling biocultural interactions: Examples from studies of stress and cardiovascular disease
Dressler, W. W. (1995) · American Journal of Physical Anthropology · doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330380604 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Self-citation“John Henryism” and blood pressure in a Dutch population.
DUIJKERS, T. J., Drijver, M., Kromhout, D., & James, S. A. (1988) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/00006842-198807000-00004 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
The social and cultural context of coping: Action, gender and symptoms in a southern black community
Dressler, W. W. (1985) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/0277-9536(85)90033-4 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Self-citationBlack Male-Female Relationships
Aborampah, O.-M. (1989) · Journal of Black Studies · doi:10.1177/002193478901900304 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
A test of the John Henryism hypothesis: Cholesterol and blood pressure
Wiist, W. H., & Flack, J. M. (1992) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/bf00848375 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
A Research Note on Dreams and Aspirations of Black Families
Huttman, E. D. (1991) · Journal of Comparative Family Studies · doi:10.3138/jcfs.22.2.147 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Coronary heart disease in black Americans: Suggestions for research on psychosocial factors
James, S. A. (1984) · American Heart Journal · doi:10.1016/0002-8703(84)90679-3 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Coping with Perceived Discrimination: Does Ethnic Identity Protect Mental Health?
Mossakowski, K. N. (2003) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.2307/1519782 · Cited by 793 · see citing works
RACE AND ETHNICITY IN PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH: Models to Explain Health Disparities
Dressler, W. W., Oths, K. S., & Gravlee, C. C. (2005) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.34.081804.120505 · Cited by 541 · see citing works
Self-citationRacial discrimination, John Henryism, and depression among African Americans
Hudson, D. L., Neighbors, H. W., Geronimus, A. T., & Jackson, J. S. (2016) · Journal of Black Psychology · doi:10.1177/0095798414567757 · Cited by 345 · see citing works
Bennett, G. G., Merritt, M. M., Sollers III, J. J., Edwards, C. L., Whitfield, K. E., Brandon, D. T., & Tucker, R. D. (2004) · Psychology & Health · doi:10.1080/0887044042000193505 · Cited by 213 · see citing works
John Henryism, depression, and perceived social support in black women
Bronder, E. C., Speight, S. L., Witherspoon, K. M., & Thomas, A. J. (2014) · Journal of Black Psychology · doi:10.1177/0095798412474466 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Subramanyam, M. A., James, S. A., Diez-Roux, A. V., Hickson, D. A., Sarpong, D., Sims, M., Taylor, H. A., & Wyatt, S. B. (2013) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.06.016 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
“The only other published study documenting elevated risk for HTN among African American women scoring low on John Henryism was that by Dressler et al. (1998). Low John Henryism among African American women in this Tuscaloosa, Alabama study probably connoted their fatigue due to past, repetitive high-effort coping with…”
BackgroundResultInfluentialPerez, A. D., Dufault, S. M., Spears, E. C., Chae, D. H., Woods-Giscombe, C. L., & Allen, A. M. (2023) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115070 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Low water access as a gendered physiological stressor: Blood pressure evidence from Nepal
Brewis, A., Choudhary, N., & Wutich, A. (2019) · American Journal of Human Biology · doi:10.1002/ajhb.23234 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Robinson, M. N., & Thomas Tobin, C. S. (2021) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.1177/00221465211009142 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Stress and illness in low-income women: the roles of hardiness, John Henryism, and Race
Williams, D., & Lawler, K. A. (2001) · Women & Health · doi:10.1300/j013v32n04_04 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
FERNANDER, A. F., DURA´N, R. E. F., SAAB, P. G., LLABRE, M. M., & SCHNEIDERMAN, N. (2003) · Ethnicity & Health · doi:10.1080/13557850303563 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
I’ll die with the Hammer in my hand”: John Henryism as a predictor of happiness
Angner, E., Hullett, S., & Allison, J. J. (2011) · Journal of Economic Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.joep.2011.01.002 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Cuffee, Y. L., Hargraves, L., Rosal, M., Briesacher, B. A., Allison, J. J., & Hullett, S. (2020) · Health Education & Behavior · doi:10.1177/1090198119878778 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
- Authors
- Dressler, W. W., Bindon, J. R., & Neggers, Y. H.
- Affiliations
- University of Alabama (US)
- ORCID
- Dressler, William W.
- Venue
- Psychosomatic Medicine
- Published
- 1998
- Volume
- 60
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 620-624
- ISSN
- 0033-3174 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2333338136
- Cited by
- 99
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 5 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 0.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychosomatic Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01hl045663-03)
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL45663)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Blood Pressure and Hypertension Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Keywords
- John Henryism, gender differences, arterial blood pressure, hypertension, African Americans, active coping, sociocultural context, Southern United States, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Aged, Black or African American, Female, Humans, Hypertension, Male, Middle Aged, Sex Factors, Body Mass Index, Black People
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
