title: Racial identity from an African Amercian perspective.
abstract: Mortality and morbidity rates for African Americans remain high. Many of the contributing factors to these deaths may be associated with lifestyle. Research has shown that racial identity influences the lifestyles of African Americans. Racial identity includes the adoption of personal behaviors and identification with a group of people with similar characteristics. Clarifying the notion of racial identity may lead to a better understanding of how racial identity influences health behaviors. The purpose of this study was to explore racial identity from a qualitative perspective. A focus group of African Americans residing in a metropolitan (n = 12) city of the United States was used for data collection. Seventy-five percent of the sample were female (n = 16) with a mean age of 43 years (s.d. = 7.26) and a range of 36 to 54 years of age. After analyses of the data, three themes emerged. These themes were "Racial Identity When Growing Up," "Becoming Aware of Racial Differences," and "Present Racial Identity." Sub-themes of each were explored in detail.
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, 521 Godchaux Hall, Nashville, Tennessee 37240, USA. rolanda.johnson@vanderbilt.edu
authors.forename: Rolanda L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D005845:Georgia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006803:Human Development; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009017:Morbidity; D009026:Mortality; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population