Abstract
Research conducted in the United States shows that Black adolescent girls have higher self-esteem and, to a lesser extent, a higher sense of control than White girls. However, few studies conducted with representative samples of Black and White girls systematically examine why Black girls may have higher self-esteem and sense of control. Drawing on Black feminist thought, we posit that Black mothers’ socialization of their daughters may explain Black girls’ higher self-esteem and sense of control. Using survey data collected in 1994 from a nationally representative sample of U.S. Black (N = 1,330) and White (N = 3,797) girls and their mothers, we examine racial differences across two key components of the self-concept: self-esteem and sense of control. We ask: 1) Do Black girls have higher self-esteem and sense of control than White girls? 2) Do Black girls have more positive relationships with their mothers and receive more encouragement of academic achievement and independence from their mothers than White girls? and 3) Do more positive mother-daughter relationships and mothers’ encouragement help to explain Black girls’ higher self-esteem and sense of control in comparison to White girls? Findings indicate that Black girls have higher self-esteem and sense of control than White girls, and Black mothers’ relationship with their daughters and stronger encouragement of daughters’ independence in part explain race differences in self-evaluations.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adler, N. E., & Rehkopf, D. H. (2008). U.S. disparities in health: Descriptions, causes and mechanisms. Annual Review of Public Health, 29, 235–252. doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.29.020907.090852.
Agresti, A., & Finlay, B. (1999). Statistical methods for the social sciences. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
Aud, S., Fox, M., & KewalRamani, A. (2010). Status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic groups (NCES 2010-015). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Avison, W. R., & McAlpine, D. D. (1992). Gender differences in symptoms of depression among adolescents. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 33, 77–96. doi:10.2307/2137248.
Baldwin, S. A., & Hoffmann, J. P. (2002). The dynamics of self-esteem: A growth-curve analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 21, 101–113. doi:10.1023/A:1014065825598.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.
Bean, R. A., Bush, K. R., McKenry, P. C., & Wilson, S. M. (2003). The impact of parental support, behavioral control, and psychological control on the academic achievement and self-esteem of African American and European American adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 18, 523–541. doi:10.1177/0743558403255070.
Birndorf, S., Ryan, S., Auinger, P., & Aten, M. (2005). High self-esteem among adolescents: Longitudinal trends, sex differences, and protective factors. Journal of Adolescent Health, 37, 194–201. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2004.08.012.
Biro, F. M., Striegel-Moore, R. H., Franko, D., Padgett, J., & Bean, J. A. (2006). Self-esteem in adolescent females. Journal of Adolescent Health, 39, 501–507. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.03.010.
Block, J., & Robins, R. W. (1993). A longitudinal study of consistency and change in self-esteem from early adolescence to early adulthood. Child Development, 64, 909–923. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1993.tb02951.x.
Brown, D. (2008). African American resiliency: Examining racial socialization and social support as protective factors. Journal of Black Psychology, 34, 32–48. doi:10.1177/0095798407310538.
Bulanda, R. E., & Majumdar, D. (2009). Perceived parent–child relations and adolescent self-esteem. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 18, 203–212. doi:10.1007/s10826-008-9220-3.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (1994). Women in the labor force: A databook (2010 ed.). Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/cps/wlf-databook2010.htm.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2008). Labor force statistics from the Current Population Survey. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/cps/race_ethnicity_2008_10.htm.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2011a). Unemployment rates by age, sex, race, and hispanic or Latino ethnicity. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gove/web/empsit/cpseed16.pdf.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2011b, October 20). Usual weekly earnings of wage and salary workers: Third quarter 2011. [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/wkyeng.pdf.
Callero, P. L. (2003). The sociology of the self. Annual Review of Sociology, 29, 115–133. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.100057.
Carlson, C., Uppal, S., & Prosser, E. C. (2000). Ethnic differences in processes contributing to the self-esteem of early adolescent girls. Journal of Early Adolescence, 20, 44–67. doi:10.1177/0272431600020001003.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). HIV surveillance report, 22. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/resources/reports/.
Chantala, K, & Tabor, J. (2010). Strategies to perform a design-based analysis using the Add Health data. Carolina Population Research Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Clausen, J. A. (1991). Adolescent competence and the shaping of the life course. The American Journal of Sociology, 96, 805–842. doi:10.2307/2780732.
Clausen, J. A., & Jones, C. J. (1998). Predicting personality stability across the life span: The role of competence and work and family commitments. Journal of Adult Development, 5, 73–83. doi:10.1023/A:1023038410560.
Collins, P. H. (1997). The meaning of motherhood in Black culture and Black mother/daughter relationships. In M. M. Gergen & S. N. Davis (Eds.), Toward a new psychology of gender (pp. 325–340). New York: Routledge.
Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought. New York: Routledge.
Conger, K. J., Williams, S. T., Little, W. M., Masyn, K. E., & Shebloski, B. (2009). Development of mastery during adolescence: The role of family problem-solving. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 50, 99–114. doi:10.1177/002214650905000107.
DeFrancisco, V. L., & Chatham-Carpenter, A. (2000). Self in community: African American women’s views of self-esteem. Howard Journal of Communications, 11(2), 73–92. doi:10.1080/106461700246634.
Demo, D. H., Small, S. A., & Savin-Williams, R. C. (1987). Family relations and the self-esteem of adolescents and their parents. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 49, 705–715. doi:10.2307/351965.
Edmondson Bell, E. L. J., & Nkomo, S. M. (1998). Armoring: Learning to withstand racial oppression. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 29, 285–295.
Falci, C. D. (2011). Self-esteem and mastery trajectories in high school by social class and gender. Social Science Research, 40, 586–601. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2010.12.013.
French, S. A., Story, M., & Perry, C. L. (1995). Self-esteem and obesity in children and adolescents: A literature review. Obesity Research, 3, 479–490. doi:10.1002/j.1550-8528.1995.tb00179.x.
Gecas, V. (1971). Parental behavior and dimensions of adolescent self-evaluations. Sociometry, 34, 466–482. doi:10.2307/2786193.
Gecas, V., & Schwalbe, M. L. (1983). Beyond the looking glass self. Social Psychology Quarterly, 46, 77–88. doi:10.2307/3033844.
Gecas, V., & Schwalbe, M. L. (1986). Parental behavior and adolescent self-esteem. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 37–46. doi:10.2307/352226.
Giddings, P. J. (1984). When and where I enter: The impact of Black women on race and sex in America. New York: Bantam.
Gray-Little, B., & Hafdahl, A. R. (2000). Factors influencing racial comparisons of self-esteem: A quantitative review. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 26–54. doi:10.1037//0033-2909.126.1.26.
Harris, K. M., Halpern, C. T., Whitsel, E., Hussey, J., Tabor, J., Entzel, P. & Udry, J. R. (2009). The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health: Research design. Retrieved from http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth/design.
Harter, S. (1993). Causes and consequences of low self-esteem in children and adolescents. In R. F. Baumeister (Ed.), Self-esteem: The puzzle of low self-worth (pp. 87–116). New York: Plenum.
Higginbotham, E. B. (1993). Righteous discontent: The women’s movement in the Black Baptist church, 1880-1920. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Hoelter, J., & Harper, L. (1987). Structural and interpersonal family influences on adolescent self-conception. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 49, 129–139. doi:10.2307/352677.
Hughes, M., & Demo, D. H. (1989). Self-perceptions of Black Americans: Self-esteem and personal efficacy. American Journal of Sociology, 95, 132–159. doi:10.2307/2780408.
Hunt, M. O., Jackson, P. B., & Steelman, L. C. (2000). Color-blind: The treatment of race and ethnicity in social psychology. Social Psychology Quarterly, 63, 352–364. doi:10.2307/2695845.
Jackson, P. B., & Lassiter, S. P. (2003). Self-esteem and race. In T. J. Owens, S. Stryker, & N. Goodman (Eds.), Extending self-esteem theory and research (pp. 223–254). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jones, C., & Shorter-Gooden, K. (2003). Shifting: The double lives of Black women in America. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
Kuczmarski R. J., Ogden C. L., Guo S. S., Grummer-Strawn, L. M., Flegal, K. M., Mei, Z. … Johnson, C. L. (2002). 2000 CDC growth charts for the United States: Methods and development. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital and Health Statistics, 11(246), 1–190.
Ladner, J. A. (1971). Tomorrow’s tomorrow. Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc.
Lawston, J. M. (2012). Women and prison. Sociologists for women in society fact sheet. Retrieved from http://www.socwomen.org/web/images/stories/resources/fact_sheets/fact_1-2012-prison.pdf.
Lewis, S. K., Ross, C. E., & Mirowsky, J. (1999). Establishing a sense of personal control in the transition to adulthood. Social Forces, 77, 1573–1599. doi:10.1093/sf/77.4.1573.
Lombe, M., Nebbitt, V. E., & Mapson, A. (2009). Individual and social correlates of efficacious beliefs: Assessing the moderating effects of parent-daughter relationships among urban African American female adolescents. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 90, 447–453.
Lovejoy, M. (2001). Disturbances in the social body: Differences in body image and eating problems among African American and White women. Gender & Society, 15, 239–261. doi:10.1177/089124301015002005.
Mama, A. (1995). Beyond the masks: Race, gender, and subjectivity. London: Routledge.
Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self, and society. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Milkie, M. (1999). Social comparisons, reflected appraisals, and mass media: The impact of pervasive beauty images on Black and White girls’ self-concepts. Social Psychology Quarterly, 62, 190–210. doi:10.2307/2695857.
Molloy, B. L., & Herzberger, S. D. (1998). Body image and self-esteem: A comparison of African American and Caucasian women. Sex Roles, 38, 631–643. doi:10.1023/A:1018782527302.
Mortimer, J. T., Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., & Holmes, M. (2002). The process of occupational decision making: Patterns during the transition to adulthood. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 61, 439–465. doi:10.1006/jvbe.2002.1885.
Ogden, C. L. (2009). Disparities in obesity prevalence in the United States: Black women at risk. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 89, 1001–1002. doi:10.3945/ajcn.2009.27592.
Omi, M., & Winant, H. (1994). Racial formations in the United States. New York: Routledge.
Oyserman, D., Harrison, K., & Bybee, D. (2001). Can racial identity be promotive of academic efficacy? International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25, 379–385. doi:10.1080/01650250042000401.
Parker, J. S., & Benson, M. J. (2004). Parent-adolescent relations and adolescent functioning: Self-Esteem, substance abuse, and delinquency. Adolescence, 39, 519–530.
Pearlin, L. (1999). The stress process revisited. In C. S. Aneshensel & J. C. Phelan (Eds.), Handbook of the sociology of mental health (pp. 395–415). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Pearlin, L. I., & Pioli, M. F. (2003). Personal control: Some conceptual turf and future directions. In S. H. Zarit, L. I. Pearlin, & K. W. Schaie (Eds.), Societal impacts on personal control in social and life course contexts (pp. 1–21). New York: Springer.
Perna, L. W. (2000). Racial and ethnic group differences in college enrollment decisions. In A. F. Cabrera & S. M. La Nasa (Eds.), Understanding the college choice of disadvantaged students. New directions for institutional research. (Vol. 2000, pp. 45–63). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Qian, Z., & Lichter, D. T. (2011). Changing patterns of interracial marriage in a multiracial society. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73, 1065–1084. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2011.00866.x.
Richardson, B. B. (1981). Racism and child-rearing: A study of Black mothers. (Unpublished Master’s thesis). Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA.
Rohall, D., Milkie, M., & Lucas, J. (2011). Social psychology: Sociological perspectives. New York: Pearson.
Rosenberg, M. (1986). Conceiving the self. New York: Basic Books.
Rosenberg, M. (1989). Society and the adolescent self-image. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press.
Rosenberg, M., & Simmons, R. G. (1972). Black and White self-esteem: The urban school child. Caroline Rose Monograph Series. Washington, D.C.: American Sociological Association.
Ross, C. E., & Mirowsky, J. (2003). Social structure and psychological functioning: Distress, perceived control, and trust. In J. Delamater (Ed.), Handbook of social psychology (pp. 411–447). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Rubin, D. B. (1987). Multiple imputation for nonresponse in surveys. New York: Wiley.
Simmons, R. G., & Blyth, D. A. (1987). Moving into adolescence. The impact of pubertal change and school context. New York: Aldine De Gruyter.
Simmons, R. G., & Rosenberg, F. (1975). Sex, sex roles, and self-image. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 4, 229–258. doi:10.1007/BF01537165.
Simmons, R. G., Brown, L., Bush, D. M., & Blyth, D. A. (1978). Self-esteem and achievement of Black and White adolescents. Social Problems, 26, 86–96. doi:10.2307/800434.
Simmons, R. G., Black, A., & Zhou, Y. (1991). African-American versus White children and the transition into junior high school. American Journal of Education, 99, 481–520.
Suizzo, M., Robinson, C., & Pahlke, E. (2007). African American mothers’ socialization beliefs and goals with young children: Themes of history, education and collective independence. Journal of Family Issues, 11, 1–30. doi:10.1177/0192513X07308368.
Swauger, M. (2010). Do (not) follow in my footsteps: How mothers influence working-class girls’ aspirations. Girlhood Studies, 3(2), 49–68. doi:10.3167/ghs.2010.030204.
Thomas, A. J., & King, C. T. (2007). Gendered racial socialization of African American mothers and daughters. The Family Journal, 15, 137–142. doi:10.1177/1066480706297853.
Townsend, T. G. (2008). Protecting our daughters: Intersection of race, class, and gender in African American mothers’ socialization of their daughters’ heterosexuality. Sex Roles, 59, 429–442. doi:10.1007/s11199-008-9409-3.
Turnage, B. F. (2004). African American mother-daughter relationships mediating daughter’s self-esteem. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 21, 155–173. doi:10.1023/B:CASW.0000022729.07706.fc.
Twenge, J. M., & Crocker, J. (2002). Race and self-esteem: Meta-analyses comparing Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians and comment on Gray-Little and Hafdal (2000). Psychological Bulletin, 128, 371–408. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.128.3.371.
U.S. Department of Education. (2011). Digest of education statistics 2010 (NCES 2011-015). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.
Vuk Pisk, S., Mihanovic, M., Silic, A., Bogovic, A., & Vidovic, V. (2012). Self-concept in overweight adolescents. South African Journal of Psychiatry, 18, 27–31.
Wade-Gayles, G. (1984). The truths of our mothers’ lives: Mother-daughter relationships in Black women’s fiction. Sage: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women, 1, 8–12.
Zimmerman, M. A., Copeland, L. A., Shope, J. T., & Dielman, T. E. (1997). A longitudinal study of self-esteem: Implications for adolescent development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 26, 117–141. doi:10.1023/A:1024596313925.
Acknowledgment
This research uses data from Add Health, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by a grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Persons interested in obtaining data files from Add Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population Center, 123W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524 (addhealth@unc.edu). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ridolfo, H., Chepp, V. & Milkie, M.A. Race and Girls’ Self-Evaluations: How Mothering Matters. Sex Roles 68, 496–509 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-013-0259-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-013-0259-2