| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation takes a public relations approach and qualitatively explores how Black women understand obesity and weight loss messages based on their racial identity and community. Racial identity is the degree to which a person feels connected to and shares a common racial heritage with a specific racial group. Community is based on a group with a collective identity developed through common experiences who depend on each other for social support. I used the situational theory of publics to explicate the factors involved in communication behavior. I incorporated social identity theory to discuss how Black women use the social identity of race (racial identity) to make meaning of obesity and weight loss messages. I also introduce the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI) to the public relations field as a framework to understand racial identity and its importance in determining Black women's involvement in, and barriers to, obesity and weight loss messages. I used a survey and focus groups to help answer three research questions: 1) How do racial identity and community influence how Black women make meaning of obesity and weight loss messages? 2) How do racial identity and community influence Black women's involvement and constraint of obesity and weight loss messages? 3) What factors contribute to Black women's information seeking of obesity and weight-loss messages? The survey determined the participants' racial identity scores, or, the strength of their racial identity, and the focus groups were used to determine how women with similar and different racial identity scores understand obesity-related health messages. I also explored how Black women's social ties contribute to their interpretation of these particular health messages. A total of 21 Black women, living in Oklahoma (the seventh fattest state in the U.S.), who have lost weight, or have tried in the past six months, participated in the study. Findings revealed five major themes that developed from the data. Overall, Black women want to see a reflection of themselves in the messages. They want "relevant" and "empowering" messages they can "connect with" and to which they can relate. Additionally, I found that Black women's shared meaning of language relative to obesity and weight loss may influence how they perceive obesity and weight loss and may greatly influence their involvement and constraints of these messages. It is this revelation that communication scholars need to understand, that language may not be race neutral. Racial identity appeared to play a part in how Black women understood health communication, and this understanding may not align with the sender's definitions of key terms--such as obesity and weight loss--in health messages. I introduce a framework called Racial Message Formulation that will help public relations scholars, public relations practitioners, health campaign planners, and communication scholars understand the factors involved in racialized publics' processing and adhering to health messages. It is through this understanding that scholars and practitioners can improve health messages to create more salient campaigns for racialized publics, meet organizational goals, and ultimately, help save lives. | |
