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A STRESS PROCESS APPROACH TO EXAMINING INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND WELL-BEING

Burke, Jessica L
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1375039188

Abstract Details

2013, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Sociology and Criminology.
This dissertation compares the psychological distress of those in an interracial relationship, specifically individuals in a Black/White, Asian/White and Latino/White cohabiting or marital relationship, with those in an intraracial relationship using a stress process framework (Pearlin et al. 1981). Investigating the well-being of individuals in an interracial relationship is an important empirical question given the dramatic increase of such unions over the past 40 years (Chan and Smith 2000; Joyner and Kao 2005) and the unique hardships faced by interracial couples, such as more discrimination, lower relationship satisfaction and less social support compared to intraracial couples (Killian 2002; Henderson 2000; Ho 1990). Using a stress process approach, I investigate the influence of perceived discrimination on relationship satisfaction and psychological distress and examine the moderating influence of social support. Based on data from two national, probability samples (The National Survey of American Lives and the National Latino and Asian American Study), I find individuals in an Asian/White relationship report significantly higher distress compared to those in an Asian/Asian relationship. I further find that individuals in all interracial relationship types report significantly higher levels of perceived discrimination compared to those in an intraracial relationship. However, relationship satisfaction only mediates the relationship between perceived discrimination and distress for Black intraracial and Asian intraracial relationships. In addition, social support did not moderate the relationship between relationship satisfaction or perceived discrimination and distress for any of the relationship types. The results suggest that while perceived discrimination is a stressor faced by all interracial couples in the data, psychological distress is not an outcome faced by those in an interracial relationship with the only exception being individuals in an Asian/White relationship. The results further suggest that relationship satisfaction and social support are not key factors for the interracial relationships examined in this study.
Kristen Marcussen, PhD (Advisor)
229 p.
Sociology
Interracial Relationships, Stress process, Perceived Discrimination, Psychological Distress

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Burke, J. L. (2013). A STRESS PROCESS APPROACH TO EXAMINING INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND WELL-BEING [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1375039188

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Burke, Jessica. A STRESS PROCESS APPROACH TO EXAMINING INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND WELL-BEING. 2013. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1375039188.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Burke, Jessica. "A STRESS PROCESS APPROACH TO EXAMINING INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND WELL-BEING." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1375039188

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1375039188
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© 2013, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License A STRESS PROCESS APPROACH TO EXAMINING INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND WELL-BEING by Jessica L Burke is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.