The Stereotypical Yogi(ni): Exploring the Effects of Prototype Similarity and Racial Centrality on Black Adult Women’s Willingness to Practice Yoga
Open Access DepositedThe past few decades have demonstrated a surge in U.S. yoga practice, with more Americans than ever reporting past month or regular practice. One in three U.S. adults have reported trying yoga at least once in their lives (Yoga Journal & Yoga Alliance, 2016), and in 2017, about one in seven U.S. adults reported practice in the past 12 months (Clarke et al., 2018). Empirically demonstrated benefits of yoga include improved mental tranquility, relaxation, general sense of wellbeing, and an optimistic view on life (Arora & Bhattacharjee, 2008; Woodyard, 2011). Although more Americans are practicing yoga, images of Black people practicing yoga remain underrepresented in the media compared to other racial counterparts. This dissertation utilizes the Social Identity Theory (SIT) and the Prototype Willingness Model (PWM) to investigate the roles of racial centrality, and prototype similarity on Black adults’ willingness to engage in future yoga practice. Black cis-gender women, ages 18-40 years old, living in the U.S. were recruited by emailing community partners and on social media (Twitter & Instagram). Once screened, individuals provided consent for study participation, completed a pre-experiment survey, viewed randomly generated images featuring either Black or White yoga practitioners, and then completed a post-experiment survey. I hypothesized that: Black adult women would report greater similarity when viewing Black yoga practitioner pages (versus White practitioners or control); and that those reporting greater similarity when viewing Black prototypes would then report greater willingness to attend a free yoga class. Results indicated a positive and significant relationship between perceived race and similarity (B= 0.44, p <0.001), a positive significant relationship between similarity and willingness (B= 0.42, p <0.001), a positive and significant relationship between similarity and attitudes (B= 0.34, p <0.001), and a positive and significant relationship between attitudes and willingness (B= 0.52, p <0.001). Specifically, participants who viewed White practitioners significantly had the highest willingness when they reported high similarity, but low centrality. On the other hand, these participants who viewed White practitioners significantly had the lowest willingness when they reported low centrality and low similarity. Results indicated that greater racial centrality, despite greater prototype similarity, works to negatively influence Black women’s willingness to practice, particularly when viewing a White yoga practitioner. Study results can inform the development of race-specific yoga interventions that could increase yoga practice among Black women in the U.S.
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