Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-8-2026
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Joseph Wellman
Second Advisor
Grace Rivera
Third Advisor
Kristi Reece
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
African American men are documented to underutilize health care services. Although the reasons for this pattern are complex, research suggests that both historical mistrust of the medical system and sociocultural expectations of strength, rooted in intersecting racial and masculine identities, might play key roles. These same factors may also influence attitudes toward mental health care. In the study, 267 African American men were randomly assigned to listen to a brief pro-health message delivered by either an in-group community member, a religious figure, or a neutral control speaker. Participants completed measures of racial identity importance, conformity to masculine norms, anticipated stigma, help-seeking behaviors, perceived barriers, and medical mistrust. Results showed that there was not an impact of condition in the outcomes, and the only significant effect was of the community condition on medical mistrust. However, we followed up with exploratory analysis across conditions to understand the effects of identity factors on attitudes towards mental health services. Due to the effects of the manipulation on the community condition, the sample size was reduced to 184 for this analysis. Exploratory analyses revealed a significant interaction: higher racial identity was associated with lower levels of anticipated stigma for those low in masculinity conformity. Furthermore, anticipated stigma mediated the relationship between these identity components and medical mistrust, perceived barriers to care and willingness/comfort in seeking mental health services, for those low in masculinity. These findings highlight some psychological mechanisms underlying African American men’s disengagement from mental health care and suggest that identity-based interventions targeting masculinity conformity in this population might help decrease disparities in help-seeking behavior.
Recommended Citation
Jones, Landon H., "Identity, Masculinity, and Stigma: Understanding Barriers to Mental Health Care Among African American Men" (2026). Honors Theses. 3605.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/3605
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