Open AccessA preliminary experimental examination of worldview verification, perceived racism, and stress reactivity in African Americans.
Author(s) -
Todd Lucas,
Mark A. Lumley,
John M. Flack,
Rhiana Wegner,
John G. Pierce,
Stefan Goetz
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
health psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.548
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1930-7810
pISSN - 0278-6133
DOI - 10.1037/hea0000284
Subject(s) - psycinfo , psychology , racism , distributive justice , social psychology , procedural justice , stressor , injustice , economic justice , clinical psychology , medline , perception , political science , neuroscience , law
According to worldview verification theory, inconsistencies between lived experiences and worldviews are psychologically threatening. These inconsistencies may be key determinants of stress processes that influence cardiovascular health disparities. This preliminary examination considers how experiencing injustice can affect perceived racism and biological stress reactivity among African Americans. Guided by worldview verification theory, it was hypothesized that responses to receiving an unfair outcome would be moderated by fairness of the accompanying decision process, and that this effect would further depend on the consistency of the decision process with preexisting justice beliefs.