Four More Years! or So What?: The Mental Health Significance of Barack Obama’s 2012 Presidential Re-Election among Black Adults

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dc.citation.firstpage201en_US
dc.citation.issueNumber2en_US
dc.citation.journalTitleDu Bois Review: Social Science Research on Raceen_US
dc.citation.lastpage222en_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber21en_US
dc.contributor.authorBrown, Tony N.en_US
dc.contributor.authorJr, Quintin Gormanen_US
dc.contributor.authorCulver, Julianen_US
dc.contributor.authorBento, Asiaen_US
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-09T20:17:01Zen_US
dc.date.available2025-01-09T20:17:01Zen_US
dc.date.issued2024en_US
dc.description.abstractThis study investigated the mental health significance of Barack Obama’s 2012 presidential re-election among Blacks. Upon his re-election, we hypothesized Blacks would either feel symbolic empowerment or relative deprivation. They would feel symbolic empowerment because a man who identifies as Black won re-election to the nation’s highest office. His second victory should generate optimism, given his status as a historic first. Alternatively, they would feel relative deprivation because The Great Recession from 2007 to 2009 curtailed what Obama could achieve. More important, he withered when afforded opportunities to challenge White supremacy and championed individual responsibility. Using a quasi-experimental design with nationally representative survey data from the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), we predicted Blacks’ preelection and postelection poor mental health days. We found no time period main effects. However, Black men with less than a college degree experienced 1.11 more poor mental health days postelection whereas Black men with a college degree or more experienced 2.93 fewer poor mental health days postelection. These findings support relative deprivation theory.en_US
dc.identifier.citationBrown, T. N., Jr, Q. G., Culver, J., & Bento, A. (2024). Four More Years! Or So What?: The Mental Health Significance of Barack Obama’s 2012 Presidential Re-Election among Black Adults. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 21(2), 201–222. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742058X24000043en_US
dc.identifier.digitalfour-more-yearsen_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1017/S1742058X24000043en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/118129en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherCambridge University Pressen_US
dc.rightsExcept where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the terms of the license or beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_US
dc.subject.keywordBarack Obamaen_US
dc.subject.keywordBehavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)en_US
dc.subject.keywordMental Healthen_US
dc.subject.keywordRelative Deprivation Theoryen_US
dc.subject.keywordSymbolic Empowerment Theoryen_US
dc.titleFour More Years! or So What?: The Mental Health Significance of Barack Obama’s 2012 Presidential Re-Election among Black Adultsen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.dcmiTexten_US
dc.type.publicationpublisher versionen_US
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