The Personal is Political: Conceptualizing Black Womanhood and Civic Engagement

Arianna Jackson

is a rising senior (’22) majoring in psychology and sociology.  She is interested in examining the effects of moving from the margins to the center for marginalized groups, with a focus on students of color attending PWIs. After graduating Wesleyan, Arianna plans to get her PhD in social psychology and hopes to continue her research on the ramifications of racialized social isolation on students of color’s success at universities. Arianna enjoys listening to podcasts, hiking, and watching The Bachelor with friends.

Abstract:

Building upon insights gained from a prior project on prosocial behavior and connection to community, this study explored how Black women’s conceptualization of their womanhood informed their civic engagement. This study used a mixed methods approach to analyze how identity conceptualization informs upon Black women’s prosocial behavior towards communities they belong to. Primary data was collected through Wave 1 of a Our Story, Our Voices, a longitudinal study administered from 2019-2020 with a total of 947 participants. Participants were asked 30 question pertaining to their experiences as Black women, their health, and opinions on various social issues. This data was analyzed through statistical analyses and thematic analysis, as modeled by Braun and Clarke. This study found that certain ethnic identities that were firmly rooted in Blackness, like Womanist and Black feminist, were positively and significantly correlated to acts of civic engagement, like protesting and community work.