Promoting African American Activism: Experiences of Racism-Related Stress and Spirituality

Abstract

This study investigates how spirituality, psychological orientation to religion, and racism-related stress are associated with African American activism. Measures of Race-Related Stress, Quest Religious Orientation, Fundamentalism Religious Orientation, and Intrinsic Spirituality were used as exogenous variables. African American Activism was the endogenous variable. Results based on a sample of 148 self-identified African American adults revealed that quest religious orientation, intrinsic spirituality, and racism-related stress were positively associated with activism-related behaviors, while fundamentalist religious orientation was negatively but not significantly associated with activism-related behaviors. Paths of a multiple regression model were analyzed using Mplus version 8. Findings shed light on the interplay of spiritual coping resources and the personal impact of racism in mobilizing an activist response to oppression.