Does the Womanist Identity Model Predict Aspects of Psychological Functioning in Black South African Women?

Abstract

This article's area of inquiry is the reactions of black South African women to gender oppression. It also examines whether Helms's Womanist Identity Model is useful in predicting self-related personality characteristics, specifically Locus of control and Self-efficacy. The Womanist Identity Model was predictive of self-efficacy, with Immersion-Emersion and Internalisation subscales making unique contributions to its prediction, but in opposite directions. The Womanist Model was also predictive of Locus of control among black South African women. The findings therefore demonstrated that internalised gender oppression can differentially contribute to this South African sample's perceptions of personal empowerment.