Exploring the Role of Marianismo and Loneliness in Latinas’ Physical and Mental Well-Being

ABSTRACT

The goal of this study is to better understand the role of social relationships and traditional gender norms in Latina health. Utilizing Hawkley and Cacioppo’s theoretical model of loneliness and health as a framework, loneliness is proposed as a key component in the relationship between the Latina gender norm of marianismo and health. Participants were 178 female adults who identified as Latina (N = 97) or non-Latina White (N = 81), ranging in age from 19–88, who completed measures of loneliness, marianismo, depression, overall health, and health practices. Results indicate that being Latina was associated with family pillar marianismo, which includes characteristics centered on women’s roles as the core of the family, that was associated with lower loneliness, and lower loneliness was subsequently associated with better overall health, lower depression, and beneficial health practices. However, being Latina had no association with silencing self to maintain harmony marianismo, that in turn had no association with loneliness, or health outcomes. These results suggest that elements of marianismo can play a protective role in Latina health and well-being, particularly when Latinas endorse the positive aspects of the gender norm that place women at the center of their families. Results also help explain the Latino health paradox by providing more specificity in the links between Latina ethnicity and positive health outcomes.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute at the University of Arizona and the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship. The authors thank Dr. Jaime Fatás, Associate Professor in the University of Arizona Department of Spanish and Portuguese, for help with English-to-Spanish translation of the survey and recruitment materials. The authors also wish to thank Dr. Jake Harwood and Dr. Steve Rains in the University of Arizona Department of Communication for feedback on earlier versions of this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study will be available upon request from the corresponding author.

Notes

1. While use of the term “Latinx” is becoming more common, about 97% of those who have historically identified as Hispanic, Latina, or Latino do not embrace this term (Noe-Bustamante et al., 2020). Thus, Latina or Latina/o are used in this manuscript, except when referring to the “Latino health paradox.”

2. Informed consent included a written form for those who participated using a paper survey, and an online consent form for those who completed the survey online. The form stated the goal of the study, time commitment, compensation, emphasized that responses and identifying information would not be connected, told participants they could skip questions and/or quit at any time, and stated there were no risks were involved.

3. A significantly greater proportion of Latinas (36%) completed a paper survey compared to White women (12%), although the effect was fairly weak (Cramer’s V = .27). There were also statistically significant associations between survey format and marianismo scores (r_pb= .22, p < .001, for both dimensions of marianismo). For silencing self marianismo, the mean for paper participants was 1.69 (SD = 0.49) compared to 1.44 (SD = 0.46) for online participants. Corresponding means for family pillar marianismo were 3.30 (SD = 0.47) vs. 3.04 (SD = 0.48).

4. β_{part =} partially standardized β