Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for FREE ACCESS to this landmark database

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Black Psychology
This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Combs, D. R.
Right arrow Articles by Adams, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Perceived Racism as a Predictor of Paranoia Among African Americans

Dennis R. Combs

University of Tulsa, dennis-combs{at}utulsa.edu

David L. Penn

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Jeffrey Cassisi

Fayetteville State University

Chris Michael

University of Tulsa

Terry Wood

University of Tulsa

Jill Wanner

University of Tulsa

Scott Adams

University of Tulsa

Recent theoretical models suggest that perceived racism acts as a stressor for African Americans and may be associated with a variety of negative psychological consequences, notably paranoia. Paranoia among African Americans is believed to reflect the lower end of the paranoia continuum based on experiences with racism. Thus, it may be beneficial to measure paranoia on a continuum, but few studies have adopted this strategy. This study examined the relationship between perceived racism and paranoia across the continuum in 128 African American college students. Participants completed three measures of paranoia and measures of perceived racism, depression, anger, self-consciousness, and hostile perceptions. The continuum of paranoia included measures reflecting cultural, nonclinical, and clinical paranoia. Perceived racism predicted cultural mistrust and nonclinical paranoia (lower end of the paranoia continuum) but not clinical paranoia. The implications of perceived racism in the prediction of paranoia for African Americans are discussed.

Key Words: perceived racism • cultural mistrust • nonclinical mistrust • continuum

References

  • Armstead, C. A., Lawler, K. A., Gorden, G., Cross, J., & Gibbons, J. (1989). Relationship of racial stressors to blood pressure responses and anger expression in Black college students. Health Psychology, 8, 541-556.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Bentall, R. P., Corcoran, R., Howard, R., Blackwood, N., & Kinderman, P. (2001). Persecutory delusions: A review and theoretical integration. Clinical Psychology Review, 21, 1143-1192.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Bentall, R. P., Jackson, H. F., & Pilgrim, D. (1988). Abandoning the concept of schizophrenia: Some implications of validity arguments for psychological research into psychotic phenomena. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 27, 156-169.
  • Bentall, R., Kinderman, P., & Kaney, S. (1994). The self, attributional processes and abnormal beliefs: Towards a model of persecutory delusions. Behavior Research and Therapy, 32, 331-341.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Bodner, E., & Mikulincer, M. (1998). Learned helplessness and the occurrence of depressive-like and paranoid-like responses: The role of attentional focus. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1010-1023.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Brondolo, E., Rieppi, R., Kelly, K., & Gerin, W. (2003). Perceived racism and blood pressure: A review of the literature and conceptual and methodological critique. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 25, 55-65.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Burks, V. S., Laird, R. D., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1999). Knowledge structures, social information processing, and children’s aggressive behavior. Social Development, 8, 220-236.
  • Buss, A. H., & Perry, M. (1992). The Aggression Questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 452-459.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Butcher, J. N., Braswell, L., & Raney, D. (1983). A cross-cultural comparison of American Indian, Black, and White inpatients on the MMPI and presenting symptoms. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51, 587-594.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Cirino, P. T., Chin, C. E., Sevcik, R. A., Wolf, M., Lovett, M., & Morris, R. D. (2002). Measuring socioeconomic status: Reliability and preliminary validity for different approaches. Assessment, 9, 145-155.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Clark, R. (2000). Perceptions of interethnic group racism predict increased vascular reactivity to a laboratory challenge in college women. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 22, 214-222.[Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Clark, R., Anderson, N. B., Clark, V. R., & Williams, D. R. (1999). Racism as a stressor for African Americans. American Psychologist, 54, 805-816.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Combs, D. R., Michael, C. O., & Penn, D. L. (in press). Paranoia and emotion perception across the continuum. British Journal of Clinical Psychology.
  • Combs, D. R., & Penn, D. L. (2004). The role of sub-clinical paranoia on social perception and behavior. Schizophrenia Research, 69, 93-104.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Combs, D. R., Penn, D. L., & Fenigstein, A. (2002). Ethnic differences in sub-clinical paranoia: An expansion of norms for the paranoia scale. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 8, 248-256.
  • Combs, D. R., Penn, D. L., & Mathews, R. (2003). Implicit learning and paranoia: Does content matter? Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 143-157.[CrossRef]
  • Combs, D. R., Penn, D. L., Wiecher, J., & Waldheter, E. (2005). The development and validity of the Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire (AIHQ). Manuscript submitted for publication.
  • Dodge, K. A., & Tomlin, A. M. (1987). Utilization of self-schemas as a mechanism of interpretational bias in aggressive children. Social Cognition, 5, 280-300.[Web of Science]
  • Fenigstein, A. (1997). Paranoid thought and schematic processing. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 16, 77-94.
  • Fenigstein, A. (1998). Paranoia. In H. Freidman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of mental health (Vol. 3, pp. 83-92). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
  • Fenigstein, A., Scheier, M. F., & Buss, A. H. (1975). Public and private self-consciousness: Assessment and theory. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43, 522-527.[CrossRef][Web of Science]
  • Fenigstein, A., & Vanable, P. A. (1992). Paranoia and self-consciousness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 129-138.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Freeman, D., & Garety, P. (2000). Comments on the content of persecutory delusions: Does the definition need clarification? British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 39, 407-414.
  • Freeman, D., Garety, P. A., Kuipers, E., Fowler, D., & Bebbington, P. E. (2002). A cognitive model of persecutory delusions. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 41, 331-347.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Garety, P. A., & Freeman, D. (1999). Cognitive approaches to delusions: A critical review of theories and evidence. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 38, 113-154.
  • Gilvarry, C. M., Walsh, E., Samele, C., Hutchinson, G., Mallett, R., Rabe-Hesleth, S., Fahy, T., van Os, J., & Murray, R. M. (1999). Life events, ethnicity, and perceptions of discrimination in patients with severe mental illness. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 34, 600-608.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Graham, S., Hudley, C., & Williams, E. (1992). Attributional and emotional determinants of aggression among African-American and Latino young adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 28, 731-740.[CrossRef][Web of Science]
  • Grier, W., & Cobbs, P. (1968). Black rage. New York: Bantam Books.
  • Haynes, S. N. (1986). A behavioral model of paranoid behaviors. Behavior Therapy, 17, 266-287.[CrossRef]
  • Hollingshead, A. B. (1975). Four factor index of social status. Unpublished manuscript, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
  • Jefferson, S. D., & Caldwell, R. (2002). An exploration of the relationship between racial identity and the perception of racial bias. Journal of Black Psychology, 28, 174-192.[Abstract]
  • Johnson, J. D., & Lecci, L. (2003). Assessing anti-White attitudes and predicting perceived racism: The Johnson-Lecci Scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 299-312.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Johnson, J. D., Simmons, C., Trawlater, S., Ferguson, T., & Reed, W. (2003). Variation in Black anti-White bias and target distancing cues: Factors that influence perceptions of ambiguously racist behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 609-622.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Kramer, R. M. (1998). Paranoid cognition in social systems: Thinking and acting in the shadow of doubt. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2, 251-275.
  • Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.
  • McNeilly, M. D., Anderson, N. B., Armstead, C. A., Clark, R., Corbett, M., Robinson, E. L., Pieper, C. F., & Lepisto, E. M. (1996). The Perceived Racism Scale: A multidimensional assessment of the experience of White racism among African-Americans. Ethnicity & Disease, 6, 154-166.
  • Mirowsky, J. (1985). Disorder and its context: Paranoid beliefs as thematic elements of thought problems, hallucinations, and delusions under threatening social conditions. Research in Community and Mental Health, 5, 185-204.
  • Mirowsky, J., & Ross, C. E. (1983). Paranoia and the structure of powerlessness. American Sociological Review, 48, 228-239.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Morey, L. C. (1991). The Personality Assessment Inventory manual. Odessa, CA: PAR, Inc.
  • Newhill, C. H. (1990). The role of culture in the development of paranoid symptomatology. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 60, 176-188.[Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Outlaw, F. H. (1993). Stress and coping: The influence of racism on the cognitive appraisal processing of African Americans. Issues in Mental Health, 14, 399-409.
  • Peters, E. R., Joseph, S. A., & Garety, P. A. (1999). Measurement of delusional ideation in the normal population: Introducing the PDI. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 25, 553-576.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Ridley, C. R. (1984). Clinical treatment of the non-disclosing Black client. American Psychologist, 39, 1234-1244.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Sigelman, L., & Welch, S. (1991). Black Americans’ views of racial inequality: The dream deferred. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Steffen, P. R., McNeilly, M. D., Anderson, N., & Sherwood, A. (2003). Effects of perceived racism and anger inhibition on ambulatory blood pressure in African-Americans. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 65, 746-750.
  • Taylor, D. M., Wright, S. C., & Ruggiero, K. (1991). The person/group discrimination discrepancy: Responses to experimentally induced personal and group discrimination. Journal of Social Psychology, 131, 847-858.[Web of Science]
  • Terrell, F., & Terrell, S. L. (1981). An inventory to measure cultural mistrust among African-Americans. Western Journal of Black Studies, 5, 180-184.
  • Terrell, F., & Terrell, S. (1984). Race of counselor, client sex, cultural mistrust level, and premature termination from counseling among Black clients. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 31, 371-375.[CrossRef][Web of Science]
  • Terrell, F., & Terrell, S. (1996). The Cultural Mistrust Inventory: Development, findings, and implications. In R. L. Jones (Ed.), Handbook of tests and measurements for Black populations (pp. 321-331). Hampton, VA: Cobb & Henry.
  • Thompson, C. E., Neville, H., Weathers, P. L., Poston, W. C., & Atkinson, D. R. (1990). Cultural mistrust and racism reaction among African-American students. Journal of College Student Development, 31, 162-168.
  • Thompson, V.L.S. (1996). Perceived experiences of racism and stressful events. Community Mental Health Journal, 32, 223-233.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Thompson, V.L.S. (2002). Racism: Perceptions of distress among African-Americans. Community Mental Health Journal, 38, 111-118.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Thurber, S., Snow, M., & Honts, C. R. (2002). The Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale: Convergent validity and diagnostic discrimination. Assessment, 9, 401-405.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Toch, H., Adams, K., & Greene, R. (1987). Ethnicity, disruptiveness, and emotional disorder among prison inmates. Criminal Justice & Behavior, 14, 93-109.
  • Trower, P., & Chadwick, P. (1995). Pathways to a defense of the self: A theory of two types of paranoia. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 2, 263-278.[Web of Science]
  • Turkat, I. D., Keane, S. P., & Thompson-Pope, S. K. (1990). Social processing errors among paranoid personalities. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 12, 263-269.[CrossRef]
  • Utsey, S. O. (1998). Assessing the stressful effects of racism: A review of instrumentation. Journal of Black Psychology, 24, 269-288.[Abstract]
  • van Os, J., Hanssen, M., Bijl, R. V., & Ravelli, A. (2000). Strauss (1969) revisited: A psychosis continuum in the general population. Schizophrenia Research, 45, 11-20.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Waldheter, E. J., Jones, N. T., Johnson, E. R., & Penn, D. L. (2005). Utility of social cognition and insight in the prediction of inpatient violence among individuals with a severe mental illness. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 193, 609-618.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Whaley, A. L. (1997). Ethnicity, race, paranoia, and psychiatric diagnoses: Clinician bias versus socio-cultural differences. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 19, 1-20.
  • Whaley, A. L. (1998). Cross-cultural perspective on paranoia: A focus on the Black American experience. Psychiatric Quarterly, 69, 325-343.
  • Whaley, A. L. (1999). Multidimensional scaling analysis of paranoid disorders in the context of depressive and psychotic disorders. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 72, 33-49.
  • Whaley, A. L. (2001a). Cultural mistrust: An important psychological construct for diagnosis and treatment of African-Americans. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 32, 555-562.[CrossRef][Web of Science]
  • Whaley, A. L. (2001b). Cultural mistrust and mental health services for African-Americans: A review and meta-analysis. The Counseling Psychologist, 29, 513-531.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Whaley, A. L. (2002). Psychometric analysis of the Cultural Mistrust Inventory with a Black psychiatric inpatient sample. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58, 383-396.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Williams, D. R., Yu, Y., Jackson, J., & Anderson, N. (1997). Racial differences in physical and mental health: Socioeconomic status, stress, and discrimination. Journal of Health Psychology, 2, 335-351.[Abstract]
  • Zigler, E., & Glick, M. (1988). Is paranoid schizophrenia really camouflaged depression? American Psychologist, 43, 284-290.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Zung, W. W. (1965). A self-rating depression scale. Archives of General Psychiatry, 12, 63-70.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Journal of Black Psychology, Vol. 32, No. 1, 87-104 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0095798405283175
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Nicotine Tob ResHome page
P. Fagan, J. S. Brook, E. Rubenstone, C. Zhang, and D. W. Brook
Longitudinal precursors of young adult light smoking among African Americans and Puerto Ricans
Nicotine Tob Res, February 27, 2009; (2009) ntp009v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Journal of Black PsychologyHome page
D. Franklin-Jackson and R. T. Carter
The Relationships Between Race-Related Stress, Racial Identity, and Mental Health for Black Americans
Journal of Black Psychology, February 1, 2007; 33(1): 5 - 26.
[Abstract] [PDF]

This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Combs, D. R.
Right arrow Articles by Adams, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?