Can A High Sense of Control and John Henryism be Bad for Mental Health?

Abstract

Social stratification profoundly affects mental health. Specifically, substantial empirical evidence finds that higher status promotes mental health via a higher sense of control and a propensity to cope actively with problems. An unresolved issue, though, is whether the effects of sense of control and active coping on mental health are uniformly beneficial across levels of socioeconomic status. Perceived control and John Henryism, an active coping style, may undermine mental health, especially for lower-status persons, who lack resources. Using data from the National Comorbidity Survey for African Americans, Hispanics, and whites, we find that both sense of control and John Henryism tend to be monotonically related to positive mental health regardless of socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity.

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