Graduation Year

2026

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Psychology

Second Department

Africana Studies

Reader 1

Eric Hurley

Reader 2

Lahna Catalino

Abstract

Black humor has long served as a mode of resilience, critique, and emotional expression for Black communities, yet its potential to reduce mental health stigma among Black women remains underexplored. This study examined whether exposure to culturally grounded satirical or self-deprecating humor reduces internalized mental health stigma among Black women and individuals who have experienced Black womanhood. It further investigated whether humor moderates the relationship between endorsement of the Black Superwoman Schema and internalized stigma, a framework closely tied to emotional suppression and stigma in Black women’s mental health. Participants were Black/African American women ages 18–30, as well as individuals of other gender identities whose lived experiences align with Black womanhood. Approximately 44 participants were recruited through social media and were randomly assigned to a humor condition (satire, self-deprecation, or neutral). Then, participants completed two validated self-report measures: The Self-Stigma and Perceived Public Stigma Measures (Kendra et al., 2014), which measure the extent to which individuals endorse negative beliefs about themselves and others due to mental health concerns, and the Giscombe Superwoman Schema Questionnaire (G-SWSQ; Woods-Giscombe et al., 2019), which measures cultural expectations of strength, emotional suppression, and caregiving obligations. This study aimed to identify humor-based pathways that reduce stigma and promote mental health openness among Black women. Results indicated that condition type did not have a significant effect on internalized stigma, F(1,41) = 0.45, p = .505. Despite the findings, three prominent themes (humor, relatability, and emotional heaviness) were identified in participants’ open-ended response questions.

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