Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Kevin Larkin

Committee Member

Amy Fiske

Committee Member

Melissa Blank

Committee Member

Lisa Platt

Abstract

John Henryism active coping (JHAC), named for folk hero John Henry, is defined as the perception that one can overcome stressors through hard work (James et al., 1983). This construct has been tied to numerous health outcomes, showing a negative influence on cardiovascular health (Bennett et al., 2004). Many researchers have examined the relation between JHAC and cardiovascular reactivity to stress, though findings are mixed. Further, despite the legend of John Henry occurring in Appalachia, and traits associated with John Henryism, such as resilience, being prominent within this region, no study has examined the relation between JHAC and reactivity in an Appalachian sample. The current study aimed to examine the relation between JHAC and reactivity in Appalachians versus non-Appalachians when completing tasks of varying difficulty.

Results did not support proposed hypotheses, though several interaction effects were significant. First, though there were no main effects of JHAC, Appalachian Identity, or Task Difficulty on physiological reactivity to stress, interactions between JHAC and Task Difficulty suggest that low JHAC was associated with greater SBP, DBP, and MAP reactivity to stress during difficult tasks. Second, there was a significant interaction between JHAC and Appalachian Identity for SBP responses such that Appalachians with high levels of JHAC exhibited less SBP reactivity to tasks than Appalachians with low levels of JHAC. For recovery analyses, significant three-way interactions between JHAC, Appalachian Identity, and Task Difficulty were revealed for DBP and MAP. For both DBP and MAP recovery, in non-Appalachians, high JHAC was associated with slower DBP and MAP recovery after the difficult task compared to low JHAC. Additional significant effects related to Task Difficulty, Order effects, and affective parameters are also discussed. Overall, results indicate that JHAC may be associated with lower reactivity but prolonged recovery from stress. Findings from this study provide an alternative explanation to the relation between JHAC and health disparities and offer insight into this construct within an Appalachian sample. Results demonstrate the importance of continued research on JHAC in a variety of diverse samples to more fully understand the relation between this coping strategy and cardiovascular responses to stress.

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