Abstract
The present study fills a crucial gap in literature surrounding the lives of African American men by exploring factors that shape the quality of these men's friendships. Drawing on data from a sample of 171 African American men, the study examines the relative utility of subjective religiosity, subjective spirituality, advice exchange, and affective sharing as predictors of the level of perceived support from male and female friends. Findings reveal age differences in subjective religiosity, subjective spirituality, and in level of advice and affective exchange in men's same-sex as well as cross-sex friendships. Age differences emerged in men's perceptions of the supportiveness of their friendships with women but not with men. Age was not a predictor of perceived supportiveness of same-sex or cross-sex friendships. Subjective religiosity did not predict support in same-sex or cross-sex friendships. Subjective spirituality positively predicted perceived support in men's same-sex friendships but not in cross-sex friendships. Implications of these findings are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Aries, E., &Johnson, F. (1983). Close friendship in adulthood: Conversational content between same-sex friends. Same Sex, 9(12), 1183-1196.
Benson, P., &Spilka, B. (1973). God image as function of selfesteem and locus of control. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 12, 297-310.
Bowman, P. (1990). Coping with provider role strain: Adaptive cultural resources among Black husband-fathers. Journal of Black Psychology, 16(2), 1-21.
Brody, G.,Stoneman, Z.,Flor, D., &McCrary, C. (1994). Religion's role in organizing family relationships: Family process in rural, two-parent African American families. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 56, 878-888.
Brown, D., &Gary, L. (1987). Stressful life events, social support networks, and physical and mental health of urban black adults. Journal of Human Stress, 13, 165-174.
Chatters, L., &Taylor, J. (1989). Age differences in religious participation among Black adults. Journal of Gerontology, 44(5), 183-189.
Davidson, L., &Duberman, L. (1982). Friendship: Communication and interactional patterns in same-sex dyads. Same Sex, 8(8), 809-822.
Ellison, C. (1992). Are religious people nice people? Evidence from the National Survey on Black Americans. Social Forces, 71(2), 411-430.
Ellison, C. (1997). Religious involvement and the subjective quality of family life among African Americans. In L. Chatters,R. Taylor, & J. Jackson (Eds.), Family life in Black America. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Fehr, B. (1996). Friendship processes. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Frankl, V. (1967/ 1992). Man's search for meaning: An introduction to logotherapy. Boston: Beacon Press.
Franklin, C. W. (1992). “Hey, home-yo, bro”: Friendship among Black men. In P. Nardi (Ed.), Men's friendships: Research on men and masculinities (pp. 201-214). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Gary, L. (1981). Black men. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Genero, N.,Miller, J.B.,Surrey, J., &Baldwin, L. (1992). Measuring perceived mutuality in close relationships: Validation of the Mutual Psychological Development Questionnaire. Journal of Family Psychology, 6, 36-48.
Gorsuch, R., &McFarland, S. (1972). Single vs. multiple-item scales for measuring religious values. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 11, 52-64.
Griffith, E.,Young, J., &Smith, D. (1984). An analysis of the therapeutic elements in a Black church service. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 35(5), 464-469.
Hacker, H. (1981). Blabbermouths and clams: Differences in selfdisclosure in same-sex and cross-sex friendship dyads. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 5(3), 385-401.
Harris, S. (1992). Black male masculinity and same-sex friendships. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 16(2), 74-81.
Hunter, A., &Davis, J. (1994). Hidden voices of Black men: The meaning, structure, and complexity of manhood. Journal of Black Studies, 25, 20-40.
King, M., &Hunt, R. (1972). Measuring the religious variable: Replication. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 14, 13-22.
Krause, N.,Liang, J., &Keith, V. (1990). Personality, social support, and psychological distress in later life. Psychology and Aging, 5(3), 315-326.
Levin, J.,Taylor, R., &Chatters, L. (1994). Race and gender differences in religiosity among older adults: Findings from four national surveys. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 49, 137-145.
Levin, J.,Taylor, R., &Chatters, L. (1995). A multidimensional measure of religious involvement for African Americans. The Sociological Quarterly, 36(1), 157-173.
Lewis, R. (1978). Emotional intimacy among men. Journal of Social Issues, 34(1), 108-121.
Lincoln, C., &Mamiya, L. (1990). The Black church in the African American experience. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Mac An Ghaill, M. (1994). The making of Black English masculinities. In H. Brod &M. Kaufman (Eds.), Theorizing masculinities: Research on men and masculinities. London: Sage.
Mattis, J. (2000). African American women's definitions of spirituality: A qualitative analysis. Journal of Black Psychology, 26(1), 101-122.
Mattis, J. S., & Jagers, R. (in press). Toward a relational framework for the study of religiosity and spirituality in the lives of African Americans. Journal of Community Psychology: Special Issue on Spirituality.
Mattis, J. S., Jagers, R. J., Hatcher, C., Lawhon, G., Murphy, E., & Murray, Y. (in press). Religiosity, communalism and volunteerism among African American men: An exploratory analysis. Journal of Community Psychology.
Miller, J. (1988). Connections, disconnections, &violations: Work in progress (No. 33). Wellesley, MA: Stone Center, Wellesley College.
Nagle, E. (1989). Love and hate. Family Therapy, 16, 185-191.
Neighbors, H. (1997). Husbands, wives, family, and friends: Sources of stress, sources of support. In R. Taylor,J. Jackson, &L. Chatters (Eds.), Family life in Black America (pp. 277-292). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Pargament, K. (1997). The psychology of religion and coping: Theory, research, practice. New York: The Guilford Press.
Rhodes, G., &Lakey, B. (1999). Social support and psychological disorder: Insights from social psychology. In R. Kowalski (Ed.), The social psychology of emotional and behavioral problems: Interfaces of social and clinical psychology (pp. 281-309). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Seegobin, W.,Reyes, R.,Starner, H.,Nissley, G., &Hart, A. (1999). Relationship with parents, God concept, self-esteem, and relationship intimacy. Paper presented at the 107th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Boston, MA.
Seidler, V. (1992). Rejection, vulnerability, and friendship. In P. Nardi (Ed.), Men's friendships: Research on men and masculinities (pp. 15-34). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Statistical Abstracts of the United States. (1998). US Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC.
Taylor, R., &Chatters, L. (1991). Religious life. In J. S. Jackson (Ed.), Life in Black America (pp. 105-123). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Taylor, R.,Mattis, J., &Chatters, L. (1999). Subjective religiosity among African Americans: A synthesis of findings from five national samples. Journal of Black Psychology, 26(4), 524-543.
Tinney, J. (1981). The religious experience of Black men. In L. Gary (Ed.), Black men (pp. 269-276). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Werking, K. (1997). We're just good friends: Women and men in nonromantic relationships. New York: Guilford Press.
Zinnbauer, B.,Pargament, K.,Cole, B.,Rye, M.,Butter, E.,Belavich, T.,Hipp, K.,Scott, A., &Kadar, J. (1997). Religiousness and spirituality: Unfuzzying the fuzzy. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 36(4), 549-564.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mattis, J.S., Murray, Y.F., Hatcher, C.A. et al. Religiosity, Spirituality, and the Subjective Quality of African American Men's Friendships: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Adult Development 8, 221–230 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011338511989
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011338511989