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Masculinity Ideology and Forgiveness of Racial Discrimination among African American Men: Direct and Interactive Relationships

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Abstract

Forgiveness research has focused almost exclusively on interpersonal transgressions committed in close relationships. Consequently, less is known about factors informing forgiveness of non-intimate actors. The current study addresses these gaps by investigating correlates of forgiveness over racial discrimination among African American men (N = 171). Specifically, we explore relationships between the endorsement of traditional masculine ideology (e.g., restrictive emotionality), overall forgiveness, forgiveness with positive affect, and forgiveness with the absence of negative affect. Links between personality, religiosity, social support, discrimination experiences, and these forms of forgiveness also are examined. Restrictive emotionality emerged as a barrier to forgiveness of discrimination. However, the relationship between restrictive emotionality and forgiveness was moderated by age, socioeconomic status, personality, and religious coping disposition.

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Acknowledgements

Wizdom Powell Hammond is a Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholar at The University of California San Francisco and Berkeley. All correspondence should be sent to Wizdom Powell Hammond, Center for Health & Community, University of California San Francisco, CA 94118, USA. This research was supported by a Student Award Program grant from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation Grant Number: 657.SAP. The lead author would like to thank the Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholars Program for its financial support during the preparation of this manuscript. The authors would like to thank Dr. Mark Rye for generously providing measurement resources for this study. The authors would also like to thank Dr. Shauna M. Cooper for her feedback on drafts of this manuscript.

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  1. Center for Health and the Community, University of California San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Suite 465, San Francisco, CA, 94143-0844, USA

    Wizdom Powell Hammond

  2. Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL, USA

    Kira Hudson Banks

  3. New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Jacqueline S. Mattis

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  1. Wizdom Powell Hammond
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Correspondence to Wizdom Powell Hammond.

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Hammond, W.P., Banks, K.H. & Mattis, J.S. Masculinity Ideology and Forgiveness of Racial Discrimination among African American Men: Direct and Interactive Relationships. Sex Roles 55, 679–692 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9123-y

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