MOTIVATION, ONLINE COMMUNITIES AND AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUNG WOMEN
INTRODUCTION
In the face of adversity, hardship, and disappointment, many African American women are resilient, appearing to manage it all: work, family, relationships, extracurricular activities with their children, church commitments, educational endeavors, and the list continues. Though negatively defined by several female rap artists as sexual freedom or performance and materialism (Minaj, Nicki ft. Ne-Yo, 2008; Redd, Candy Ft. Rasheeda, & Kandi, 2010; Trina, 2008), African American women have coined the term “Independent Woman.” Administrating a considerable amount of responsibility, being an “independent woman” can also be depicted as an astute, beautiful mother who spends her time pursuing educational attainment and caring for her child while also maintaining her physical presence as in Yo Gotti’s 2009 video, “5 Star Chick” or Drake’s 2008 hit Fancy, both male rap artists. Additionally, the urban dictionary states that an Independent Woman is, “A woman who pays her own bills, buys her own things, and DOES NOT allow a man to affect her stability or self-confidence. She supports her self on her own entirely and is proud to be able to do so.”
Depending upon your perspective, the meaning of an “Independent Woman” varies considerably and interestingly enough, the aforementioned artists each view this notion of independence as something positive. Knowingly or unknowingly, a myriad of everyday African American women utilize such to define their self-perception consequentially creating malleable responses when life happens. Unfortunately however, stagnant, bitter, suppressive attitudes are also developed, creating barriers that prevent complete accession.
For example, many who once desired a college education flat line after an unplanned pregnancy and the onset of single-motherhood. Though they may accept the responsibility of caring for their child, they find themselves stuck here. Others were once “successful”: married, possessing a six-figure income, homeownership, luxury vehicles, etc., but after losing every monetary item in their possession, as a result of a divorce or otherwise, are laced with insecurity and are cemented here. Being fastened here, wherever the “here” might be for these women, heavily influences the lack of optimism. They tell themselves, ‘I’m independent,’ because they care for their child or don’t feel the need for support from others, blindly developing pessimism, complacency and loneliness.
Though an unplanned pregnancy may create a weight, obstacle even, it certainly should not deter a young, expectant mother from pursuing her educational endeavors and anyone with any number of years under their belt, surely understands that “security” cannot possibly be contingent upon the number of possessions in one’s grasp, yet many find themselves aloof, depressed, and defeated over the loss of things; physically trucking through life, but mentally desolate. Others have yet to experience any of the aforesaid, yet find themselves in solitude, simply maneuvering through the rigmarole of life, lacking ambition, positive connections and joy.
Due to media stricken misconceptions of black women and the lack of consistent, positive support, I hypothesized that these women remain vanquished. I established an online community in the form of a blog and Facebook Group with the expectation that dialogues regarding positive, relevant topics would shift their paradigm and increase optimism. To enhance our virtual connection, in person discussions were also held; there were a total of 31 participants (30 African American, 1 Latina.).
This paper consists of three parts. First, I examine the methodology of change or “change models,” indicators that affirm one is ready to change (e.g. contemplation vs. taking action) as well as the factors that actually motivate change/ “context” (e.g. children, desire for acceptance, a better life, etc.). Secondly, with Etienne Wenger’s Communities of Practice Learning Theory, Bandura’s Social Learning Theory and John Keller’s ARCS Model of Motivation Design in mind, I present my action research!
PART ONE: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
CHANGE MODELS
In an effort to change pessimistic, stagnant mindsets I began my research by analyzing just how to change from one behavior to another. However, previous studies regarding motivation and change primarily consist of changing from addictive, behaviors, where a pessimistic attitude, complacency or feelings of defeat, are not entirely deemed “destructive.” Nevertheless, while attempting to alter addictive, detrimental behaviors, many researchers have applied Prochaska and DiClemente’s (1982) transtheorectical model to eating disorders (Leung & Russell, 2013), drug and alcohol use (Blackmore, P. & Kandiko, C.B. 2011; Brown, Melchior, Panter, Slaughter, & Beumont, 2002; Carroll, A., Ashman, A., Bower, J., & Hemingway, F., 2012; Collins, S.E., Logan, D.E., & Neighbors, C., 2010) exercise (Marcus, Selby, Niaura, & Rossi, 1992), domestic violence (Begun, Shelley, Strodthoff, & Short, 2001), money management (Rowley, Lown, & Piercy, 2012), organizational change (Prochaska, 2000), psychotherapy (Bradshaw, S.D., Shumway, S.T., Harris, K.S., & Baker, A., 2013; Moore, L.E., Tambling, R.B., & Anderson, S.R., 2012 ; Petrocelli, 2002), and offender rehabilitation (Williamson, Day, Howells, Bubner, & Jauncey, 2003). In doing such, researchers have identified one’s readiness to change by five indicators: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. During precontemplation, individuals have yet to consider changing their behavior, while within the contemplation stage, one may have thought about changing, but have yet to make a commitment to modify their behavior. In the preparation stage individuals may have unsuccessfully attempted to change in the past, but plan to change within the coming month, while during the action stage, individuals are changing their behavior and the change has lasted from one day to six months. Finally, those who have matriculated through the maintenance stage have implemented strategies to avoid relapses and have maintained their changes for at least six months (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983).
MOTIVATIONG FACTORS /“CONTEXT”
Other researchers have examined the context in which change occurs, rather than the steps in which change takes place. For example, Burrows and Needs (2009) established a Context and Change model that considers one’s “internal context”, motivations for change and the environment in which change occurs. Internal context includes expectations, self-perceptions, coping mechanisms, demographics, cultural background, education and income, alone or a combination, and their affect on motivation and readiness to change. Change catalysts are also referred to as “second factors” and provide momentum for change including cultural events and relationships, while “third factors” include social and cultural environments, politics, and factors that affect the change process, such as unsupportive family or friends who might ambush change by overcrowding or bullying. Burrowes and Needs (2009) argued that it is important to assess both the real and perceived impact of each factor alone and in combination for change to take place.
SELF-EFFICACY
Generating and maintaining participants’ motivation, developing social abilities, problem-solving skills and self – efficacy are common features to most interventions (Ashman, Caroll, Bower and Hemingway, 2012; Haimovitz and Henderlong-Corpus, 2011). Thus, the use of games and simulations, activities that focus on goal development and problem solving and the development of personal strengths are key elements. In one intervention featuring such change promoting components, Czuchry, Sia and Dansereau (2006) reported higher levels of treatment readiness, engagement and success rates as opposed to those who engaged in the standard, non-enhanced change programs.
Collins, Logan and Neighbors (2010) and their research on readiness to change amongst college drinkers reported that RTC (readiness to change) “instigates behavior change only in the presence of elevated self-efficacy or importance of behavior change. Maintaining the attention of the participant is probably the most fundamental of element of change and motivation (p. 1906). Furthermore, Baker, Bradshaw, Harris, and Shumway (2013) stressed the importance of professionals helping an addict to begin recovery is to “help them find internal motivation by increasing readiness” (p.281).
SELF PERCEPTION
The significance of self-perception is also paramount when analyzing behavior and motivation to change (Lopez & Emmer, 2012) particularly in young people (ages 13 – 17). Relative to readiness to change, Lopez and Emmer advised that adolescent males who have engaged in violent crimes hold views about their manliness that are sustained through violent acts rather than more socially acceptable behavior. Such beliefs can negatively affect treatment outcomes because as harm to another is minimized, so is their masculinity, completely counterproductive when attempting to change behavior.
Leung, Ma and Russell (2012) affirmed the impact of self-perception in their research on Enhancing motivation to change in eating disorders with an online self help program in relationship to ambivalence to change, as individuals deny the existence of the problem, fear losing control, and their self-perceived value of eating disorder symptoms. Self-perception can assuredly contribute to relapses and resistance to receive treatment; however, obtaining motivation to change, greatly contributes to recovery from disorders.
SUPPORT
The social support of family is a major contributor to motivation and change (Rowley, Lown, and Piercy, 2012; Haimovitz and Henderlong-Corpus, 2011) and depending upon how such support is rendered, intrinsic or extrinsic motivators are triggered. For example, Haimovitz and Henderlong-Corpus (2011) researched the Effects of Person vs. Process Praise on Student Motivation, where they found that process praise enhances intrinsic or internal motivators (i.e. problem solving, feeling a sense of competence, having autonomy – independence) where person praise increased extrinsic (i.e. monetarily, tangibly driven, reward attained) motivation. It turns out, when these students were told comments such as, “Great, it seems like you put a lot of effort into these” they were more susceptible to conquering the next obstacle, as the emphasis was placed upon their ability to problem solve as opposed to comments such as, “Great, you’re really good at these” which measured success on the participant’s self –worth and competence levels.
Brown, Dunn, Geller, & Srikameswaran (2013) in their study regarding Symptom-Specific Measure of Readiness for Change in Eating Disorders revealed that when patient treatment is collaborative, patient readiness and acceptability is more likely to result in long-term changes.
GOAL-CENTERED VS. CRISIS CENTERED
According to Rowley et al. (2012) and their study on Motivating Women to Adopt Positive Financial Behaviors, motivators can be classified as “circumstantial” such as life transitions, and “underlying,” such as a desire for financial independence.” Of the underlying motivators, two types were discovered: “goal-centered” and “crisis-centered” (Moore, Tambling and Anderson, 2012; Rowley , Lown, and Piercy, 2012). Rowley et al. found that women tend to be more risk averse than men, investing in low risk investments that offer minimal returns (Bajtelsmit & Bernasek, 1996; Fisher, 2010; Glass & Kilpatrick, 1998), lacking stable employment patterns due to caregiving (Bergen and Denton, 2004; Metlife Mature Market Institute, 2011) and/or dependent upon their spouses, often leaving them all the more vulnerable to financial impairments. Considering the financial disadvantages to women, this investigation sought to determine what factors or events take place to take more responsibility for their financial future. Thirteen of 17 participants described some sort of life transition as part of her circumstance leading to change; however, Rowley, Lown and Peircy (2012) found that “life transitions are not essential to the change process,” as four participants made financial improvements without experiencing a life transition such as: marriage, divorce, birth of a child or death of a spouse.
INTRODUCTION
In the face of adversity, hardship, and disappointment, many African American women are resilient, appearing to manage it all: work, family, relationships, extracurricular activities with their children, church commitments, educational endeavors, and the list continues. Though negatively defined by several female rap artists as sexual freedom or performance and materialism (Minaj, Nicki ft. Ne-Yo, 2008; Redd, Candy Ft. Rasheeda, & Kandi, 2010; Trina, 2008), African American women have coined the term “Independent Woman.” Administrating a considerable amount of responsibility, being an “independent woman” can also be depicted as an astute, beautiful mother who spends her time pursuing educational attainment and caring for her child while also maintaining her physical presence as in Yo Gotti’s 2009 video, “5 Star Chick” or Drake’s 2008 hit Fancy, both male rap artists. Additionally, the urban dictionary states that an Independent Woman is, “A woman who pays her own bills, buys her own things, and DOES NOT allow a man to affect her stability or self-confidence. She supports her self on her own entirely and is proud to be able to do so.”
Depending upon your perspective, the meaning of an “Independent Woman” varies considerably and interestingly enough, the aforementioned artists each view this notion of independence as something positive. Knowingly or unknowingly, a myriad of everyday African American women utilize such to define their self-perception consequentially creating malleable responses when life happens. Unfortunately however, stagnant, bitter, suppressive attitudes are also developed, creating barriers that prevent complete accession.
For example, many who once desired a college education flat line after an unplanned pregnancy and the onset of single-motherhood. Though they may accept the responsibility of caring for their child, they find themselves stuck here. Others were once “successful”: married, possessing a six-figure income, homeownership, luxury vehicles, etc., but after losing every monetary item in their possession, as a result of a divorce or otherwise, are laced with insecurity and are cemented here. Being fastened here, wherever the “here” might be for these women, heavily influences the lack of optimism. They tell themselves, ‘I’m independent,’ because they care for their child or don’t feel the need for support from others, blindly developing pessimism, complacency and loneliness.
Though an unplanned pregnancy may create a weight, obstacle even, it certainly should not deter a young, expectant mother from pursuing her educational endeavors and anyone with any number of years under their belt, surely understands that “security” cannot possibly be contingent upon the number of possessions in one’s grasp, yet many find themselves aloof, depressed, and defeated over the loss of things; physically trucking through life, but mentally desolate. Others have yet to experience any of the aforesaid, yet find themselves in solitude, simply maneuvering through the rigmarole of life, lacking ambition, positive connections and joy.
Due to media stricken misconceptions of black women and the lack of consistent, positive support, I hypothesized that these women remain vanquished. I established an online community in the form of a blog and Facebook Group with the expectation that dialogues regarding positive, relevant topics would shift their paradigm and increase optimism. To enhance our virtual connection, in person discussions were also held; there were a total of 31 participants (30 African American, 1 Latina.).
This paper consists of three parts. First, I examine the methodology of change or “change models,” indicators that affirm one is ready to change (e.g. contemplation vs. taking action) as well as the factors that actually motivate change/ “context” (e.g. children, desire for acceptance, a better life, etc.). Secondly, with Etienne Wenger’s Communities of Practice Learning Theory, Bandura’s Social Learning Theory and John Keller’s ARCS Model of Motivation Design in mind, I present my action research!
PART ONE: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
CHANGE MODELS
In an effort to change pessimistic, stagnant mindsets I began my research by analyzing just how to change from one behavior to another. However, previous studies regarding motivation and change primarily consist of changing from addictive, behaviors, where a pessimistic attitude, complacency or feelings of defeat, are not entirely deemed “destructive.” Nevertheless, while attempting to alter addictive, detrimental behaviors, many researchers have applied Prochaska and DiClemente’s (1982) transtheorectical model to eating disorders (Leung & Russell, 2013), drug and alcohol use (Blackmore, P. & Kandiko, C.B. 2011; Brown, Melchior, Panter, Slaughter, & Beumont, 2002; Carroll, A., Ashman, A., Bower, J., & Hemingway, F., 2012; Collins, S.E., Logan, D.E., & Neighbors, C., 2010) exercise (Marcus, Selby, Niaura, & Rossi, 1992), domestic violence (Begun, Shelley, Strodthoff, & Short, 2001), money management (Rowley, Lown, & Piercy, 2012), organizational change (Prochaska, 2000), psychotherapy (Bradshaw, S.D., Shumway, S.T., Harris, K.S., & Baker, A., 2013; Moore, L.E., Tambling, R.B., & Anderson, S.R., 2012 ; Petrocelli, 2002), and offender rehabilitation (Williamson, Day, Howells, Bubner, & Jauncey, 2003). In doing such, researchers have identified one’s readiness to change by five indicators: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. During precontemplation, individuals have yet to consider changing their behavior, while within the contemplation stage, one may have thought about changing, but have yet to make a commitment to modify their behavior. In the preparation stage individuals may have unsuccessfully attempted to change in the past, but plan to change within the coming month, while during the action stage, individuals are changing their behavior and the change has lasted from one day to six months. Finally, those who have matriculated through the maintenance stage have implemented strategies to avoid relapses and have maintained their changes for at least six months (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983).
MOTIVATIONG FACTORS /“CONTEXT”
Other researchers have examined the context in which change occurs, rather than the steps in which change takes place. For example, Burrows and Needs (2009) established a Context and Change model that considers one’s “internal context”, motivations for change and the environment in which change occurs. Internal context includes expectations, self-perceptions, coping mechanisms, demographics, cultural background, education and income, alone or a combination, and their affect on motivation and readiness to change. Change catalysts are also referred to as “second factors” and provide momentum for change including cultural events and relationships, while “third factors” include social and cultural environments, politics, and factors that affect the change process, such as unsupportive family or friends who might ambush change by overcrowding or bullying. Burrowes and Needs (2009) argued that it is important to assess both the real and perceived impact of each factor alone and in combination for change to take place.
SELF-EFFICACY
Generating and maintaining participants’ motivation, developing social abilities, problem-solving skills and self – efficacy are common features to most interventions (Ashman, Caroll, Bower and Hemingway, 2012; Haimovitz and Henderlong-Corpus, 2011). Thus, the use of games and simulations, activities that focus on goal development and problem solving and the development of personal strengths are key elements. In one intervention featuring such change promoting components, Czuchry, Sia and Dansereau (2006) reported higher levels of treatment readiness, engagement and success rates as opposed to those who engaged in the standard, non-enhanced change programs.
Collins, Logan and Neighbors (2010) and their research on readiness to change amongst college drinkers reported that RTC (readiness to change) “instigates behavior change only in the presence of elevated self-efficacy or importance of behavior change. Maintaining the attention of the participant is probably the most fundamental of element of change and motivation (p. 1906). Furthermore, Baker, Bradshaw, Harris, and Shumway (2013) stressed the importance of professionals helping an addict to begin recovery is to “help them find internal motivation by increasing readiness” (p.281).
SELF PERCEPTION
The significance of self-perception is also paramount when analyzing behavior and motivation to change (Lopez & Emmer, 2012) particularly in young people (ages 13 – 17). Relative to readiness to change, Lopez and Emmer advised that adolescent males who have engaged in violent crimes hold views about their manliness that are sustained through violent acts rather than more socially acceptable behavior. Such beliefs can negatively affect treatment outcomes because as harm to another is minimized, so is their masculinity, completely counterproductive when attempting to change behavior.
Leung, Ma and Russell (2012) affirmed the impact of self-perception in their research on Enhancing motivation to change in eating disorders with an online self help program in relationship to ambivalence to change, as individuals deny the existence of the problem, fear losing control, and their self-perceived value of eating disorder symptoms. Self-perception can assuredly contribute to relapses and resistance to receive treatment; however, obtaining motivation to change, greatly contributes to recovery from disorders.
SUPPORT
The social support of family is a major contributor to motivation and change (Rowley, Lown, and Piercy, 2012; Haimovitz and Henderlong-Corpus, 2011) and depending upon how such support is rendered, intrinsic or extrinsic motivators are triggered. For example, Haimovitz and Henderlong-Corpus (2011) researched the Effects of Person vs. Process Praise on Student Motivation, where they found that process praise enhances intrinsic or internal motivators (i.e. problem solving, feeling a sense of competence, having autonomy – independence) where person praise increased extrinsic (i.e. monetarily, tangibly driven, reward attained) motivation. It turns out, when these students were told comments such as, “Great, it seems like you put a lot of effort into these” they were more susceptible to conquering the next obstacle, as the emphasis was placed upon their ability to problem solve as opposed to comments such as, “Great, you’re really good at these” which measured success on the participant’s self –worth and competence levels.
Brown, Dunn, Geller, & Srikameswaran (2013) in their study regarding Symptom-Specific Measure of Readiness for Change in Eating Disorders revealed that when patient treatment is collaborative, patient readiness and acceptability is more likely to result in long-term changes.
GOAL-CENTERED VS. CRISIS CENTERED
According to Rowley et al. (2012) and their study on Motivating Women to Adopt Positive Financial Behaviors, motivators can be classified as “circumstantial” such as life transitions, and “underlying,” such as a desire for financial independence.” Of the underlying motivators, two types were discovered: “goal-centered” and “crisis-centered” (Moore, Tambling and Anderson, 2012; Rowley , Lown, and Piercy, 2012). Rowley et al. found that women tend to be more risk averse than men, investing in low risk investments that offer minimal returns (Bajtelsmit & Bernasek, 1996; Fisher, 2010; Glass & Kilpatrick, 1998), lacking stable employment patterns due to caregiving (Bergen and Denton, 2004; Metlife Mature Market Institute, 2011) and/or dependent upon their spouses, often leaving them all the more vulnerable to financial impairments. Considering the financial disadvantages to women, this investigation sought to determine what factors or events take place to take more responsibility for their financial future. Thirteen of 17 participants described some sort of life transition as part of her circumstance leading to change; however, Rowley, Lown and Peircy (2012) found that “life transitions are not essential to the change process,” as four participants made financial improvements without experiencing a life transition such as: marriage, divorce, birth of a child or death of a spouse.