At all levels of socioeconomic status, Black Americans can expect to live shorter and sicker lives than their White counterparts. This study advances the perspective that anti-Black stigma from Whites precludes Blacks from reaping the full health rewards of higher status, particularly within the context of neighborhoods. To test this hypothesis, I merge census data with rich survey and biomarker data from the Nashville Stress and Health Study, a representative sample of Black and White adults from Davidson County, Tennessee (n = 1,252). Initially, I find that Blacks who reside in higher status and mostly White communities exhibit lower levels of neuroendocrine stress hormones, relative to their peers living in disadvantaged Black neighborhoods. But Blacks in higher-status areas also report more perceived discrimination. In turn, perceived discrimination is associated with chronic bodily pain, as well as elevated stress hormones and blood pressure tied to high goal-striving stress, or fears of being blocked from reaching life goals. After accounting for racism-related stressors, Blacks exhibit comparable levels of physiological distress regardless of neighborhood context. The inverse is true for Whites, who report fewer stressors in higher-status neighborhoods, and less physiological distress than Blacks overall. Findings are discussed within the context of social evolutionary theories of the human brain and are dovetailed with broader racial health disparities in the United States.

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继续前进？美国黑人的社区地位和种族主义相关的困扰


在各个社会经济地位水平上，美国黑人的寿命都比白人寿命更短、病情更严重。这项研究提出了这样的观点：白人的反黑人耻辱阻碍了黑人获得更高地位的全面健康回报，特别是在社区背景下。为了检验这一假设，我将人口普查数据与来自纳什维尔压力与健康研究的丰富调查和生物标志物数据合并，该研究是田纳西州戴维森县黑人和白人成年人的代表性样本（ n = 1,252）。最初，我发现，与居住在弱势黑人社区的同龄人相比，居住在较高地位且以白人为主的社区的黑人表现出较低水平的神经内分泌应激激素。但地位较高地区的黑人也报告称他们感受到更多的歧视。反过来，感知到的歧视与慢性身体疼痛有关，压力荷尔蒙升高和血压升高与追求目标的高压力有关，或者担心无法实现人生目标。在考虑到与种族主义相关的压力源后，无论社区背景如何，黑人都表现出相当程度的生理困扰。对于白人来说，情况恰恰相反，他们在较高地位的社区中承受的压力较少，总体上比黑人更少的生理困扰。研究结果是在人脑社会进化理论的背景下进行讨论的，并且与美国更广泛的种族健康差异相吻合。