Abstract
The recently developed social resistance framework addresses a widespread pattern in which members of some nondominant minorities tend to engage in various risky and unhealthy behaviors more than the majority group. This pilot study tested the core hypotheses derived from this innovative framework. We conducted in 2011 a nationally representative Web-based survey of 200 members of a nondominant minority group (African Americans) and 200 members of a majority group (Whites). The preliminary findings supported the main premises of the framework and suggested that nondominant minorities who felt discriminated and alienated from society tended also to have higher levels of social resistance. Those with higher levels of social resistance also engaged more in risky and unhealthy behaviors-smoking, drinking, and nonuse of seat belts-than did those with lower levels of social resistance. These associations were not found in the majority group. These preliminary results supported the framework and suggested that social resistance might play a meaningful role in risky and unhealthy behaviors of nondominant minorities, and should be taken into account when trying to reduce health disparities.
Highlights
ObjectivesThe recently developed social resistance framework addresses a widespread pattern in which members of some nondominant minorities tend to engage in various risky and unhealthy behaviors more than the majority group
The social resistance framework posits that the discrimination faced by nondominant minorities, their low status in society, and their alienation from society—factors that were previously found to be related to risky and unhealthy behaviors5,13---17—may encourage members of these groups to actively engage, consciously or unconsciously, in a variety of everyday resistance behaviors against the majority group,[18] which may include high-risk and unhealthy behaviors
That is, engaging in unhealthy behaviors offers members of nondominant groups an opportunity to express their opposition to the larger society, and to send a message to the dominant group that its control over their lives is not without bounds.[10]
Summary
The recently developed social resistance framework addresses a widespread pattern in which members of some nondominant minorities tend to engage in various risky and unhealthy behaviors more than the majority group. This pilot study tested the core hypotheses derived from this innovative framework
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