Research shows that the universal benefits of being positive may not generalize across races.
Research consistently shows that positive psychological factors are associated with better physical health, including better resistance to infections such as the flu and the common cold. Race in this context by comparing results of African American and European American participants in a series of landmark experimental studies from the Common Cold Project conducted between 1993 and 2011. Examine the role played by
Works published in magazines psychologypositive factors such as well-being are associated with reduced illness after experimental virus exposure in European Americans, whereas positive self-evaluations (e.g., higher positive reported emotions, self-esteem, and perceived health) were unhelpful, and some cases were associated with an increased risk of developing upper respiratory tract infections.
“One of the key points that this study tries to emphasize is that there can be nuances in how positive psychological factors protect people, depending on their race and culture. , we need to take it seriously.” Author Sarah Pressman is a professor of psychological science and associate dean of undergraduate education at the University of California, Irvine.
“Many positive psychological interventions are widely applied to improve health. is that there is
The research team led four studies (Pittsburgh Mind-Body Center Study and Pittsburgh Cold Studies 1, 2, and 3) led by Sheldon Cohen, emeritus professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University and one of the study’s co-authors. We analyzed participant data from. The analysis focused on healthy adults (271 African Americans and 700 European Americans) from her 18 years to her 55 years of age recruited from the Pittsburgh area.
All subjects demonstrated good health and completed pre-virus questionnaires and telephone interviews to measure psychological measures (positive or negative affective style, self-acceptance, self-esteem, self-reported health status, perceptions). stress) was evaluated. Exposure to upper respiratory tract viruses through nasal sprays. Participants were quarantined at a local hotel for six days, where researchers monitored common symptoms and objective physiological markers of illness, such as the production and removal of nasal discharge.
Lead author Cameron Wiley, a PhD student in psychological sciences at the University of California, Irvine, summarizes the findings: However, in African Americans, the effect was not as strong. Looking at other factors, we found that higher levels of self-esteem were also associated with lower incidence of the common cold among European Americans. showed that African Americans with high self-esteem were actually more likely to catch colds. It was a shocking discovery, to say the least. ”
Pressman adds: However, the study found that higher self-esteem in African Americans actually made them more likely to get sick. This demonstrates the need to be conscientious when developing interventions to improve health.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UCI research team made the decision to revisit the data. “While the pandemic has disrupted networks of emotional well-being for all, we still see higher rates of COVID morbidity and mortality among black and brown populations. In addition, we examined data from a rare series of studies involving isolating individuals who had been experimentally exposed to an upper respiratory tract disease similar to the COVID-19 virus,” says Wiley.
“We still don’t fully understand why some people get sick from COVID-19 and others don’t. Psychological and perhaps cultural factors may partly explain it. We hope this study will encourage researchers to explore this direction further,” says Pressman.
The findings prompted the team to consider whether positive emotions are similarly experienced by African Americans and European Americans and mean the same thing.
“Since there are many studies on negative emotions and their negative effects, showing that there are racial differences in the expression and experience of negative emotions, it is possible that the same is true for positive emotions. Yes,” said the research team.
Both Blevins and Wiley plan to study how physical health relates to the psychological experiences of different races and explore factors that increase resilience in at-risk populations. .
Source: UC Irvine
Comments
Post a Comment