Major
Psychology
Anticipated Graduation Year
2023
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
The goal of this study was to examine actor-partner effects of microaggressions on African American couples’ stress and cortisol levels. African American couples were recruited from the Chicagoland area to report their experiences over the past 3 months and to provide a hair sample to assess cortisol. Results indicated that actor and partners’ reports of how bothered they were by microaggressions over the past 3 months were related to actors’ cortisol levels. These results suggests that people and their partner’s reports of how bothered they were by microaggressions were related to increased stress and cortisol levels in African American couples.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Dr. Tracy DeHart, Professor, Psychology
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
The Effect of Microaggressions on African American Couples' Cortisol Levels
The goal of this study was to examine actor-partner effects of microaggressions on African American couples’ stress and cortisol levels. African American couples were recruited from the Chicagoland area to report their experiences over the past 3 months and to provide a hair sample to assess cortisol. Results indicated that actor and partners’ reports of how bothered they were by microaggressions over the past 3 months were related to actors’ cortisol levels. These results suggests that people and their partner’s reports of how bothered they were by microaggressions were related to increased stress and cortisol levels in African American couples.