Gendered racism and mental health for Black men in the United States: Examining moderating factors.

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between gendered racism and psychological distress in Black men, and how racial identity and conformity to masculinity norms may moderate that relationship. Two hundred twenty-nine Black men in the United States recruited through Prolific completed the Brief Symptom Inventory-18, African American Men's Gendered Racism Stress Inventory, Cross's Racial Identity Scale, and the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory-30 via online survey. A series of moderated moderation analyses using Hayes' PROCESS program (Model 3) indicated that gendered racism, Black racial identity, and the two masculinity norms significantly predicted psychological distress; that several racial identity attitudes and conformity to emotional control moderated the relationship between gendered racism and psychological distress; and that emotional control moderated the moderated relationship between gendered racism, psychological distress, and some of the racial identity attitudes. These findings emphasize the importance of addressing Black men's psychological distress from an intersectional perspective suggesting that clinicians explore how Black men's experiences of negative stereotypes, their positive and negative attitudes toward their racial identity, and their conformity to masculine norms about being self-reliant and emotionally controlled co-occur to better understand sources of distress. Future research and limitations are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).