The role of skin color in African -American mother /daughter relationships: A dynamic review.
Item
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Title
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The role of skin color in African -American mother /daughter relationships: A dynamic review.
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Identifier
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AAI9997130
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identifier
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9997130
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Creator
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Williams, Addette Louise.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Steven Tuber
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Date
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2001
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical | Women's Studies | Sociology, Individual and Family Studies | Black Studies
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Abstract
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Clinical literature reveals that an African-American patient's conflict about her skin color may be traced to what she "learned" about skin color in her family of origin, particularly from her primary caregiver. The purpose of this study was to assess empirically the transmission of feelings about skin color from mothers to daughters, as perceived by the daughter, and how this relates to the daughter's view of herself. The researcher constructed a multiple regression model with the following predictor variables: daughter's feelings about her own skin color, her perception of her mother's feelings about daughter's skin color, daughter's perception of her mother's feelings about her mother's own skin color and daughter's experience of her mother; and the outcome variable: daughter's Self-view, defined as Self-regard, Self-criticism, and Striving/Ambition.;Participants were 80 African-American women from age 20 and 29, primarily from New York City. The instruments used in this study were the Assessment of Self-Descriptions (Blatt, S., Bers, S., Schaffer, C., 1993), the Object Representation Inventory (Blatt, S., Chevron, E., Quinlan, D., Schaffer, C., Wein, S., 1992), two questionnaires the researcher designed for this study, and a demographic questionnaire.;Results indicate that participants perceive themselves and their mothers to have similar feelings about the participants' skin color (r = .79, p > .001), and that the participants perceive their mothers to have similar feelings about both of their skin colors ( r =.41, p >.001). Evidence suggests trends toward two weak relationships: (1) the more positive the mother's feelings are about the daughter's skin color, the more benevolent the daughter is likely to experience her mother; and (2) the more benevolent the daughter experiences her mother, the more Self-critical the daughter. Multivariate analyses failed to show that the predictor variables have the power to explain the outcome variables. Results of the exploratory analyses revealed a difference between skin-color groups, with light-skinned participants seeming less Self-critical than dark-skinned participants (X2 = 5.76, df = 2, p =.056). In addition, themes that emerged during skin-color discussions are summarized, including examples and quotes from participants.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
