Exploring Spatial and Spiritual Influences on Black Emerging Adult Women’s Sociopolitical Development

Although increasing attention has been paid to the sociopolitical development (SPD) of Black emerging adult women, relatively little research has explored the role of cultural ideologies and spatial context in this process. This study operationalizes a transactional and ecological frame, the Socioecological Transactional framework for the study of Religiosity and Spirituality (SET-RS Urban), and asks: To what extent are individual factors, religiosity, spirituality, and urban place associated with SPD (measured by critical reflection, critical agency and critical action) among Black emerging adult women? Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted with Black emerging adult women (n=221) to examine the link between perceptions of urban place, religiosity and spirituality, and SPD. Regarding perceptions of place, perceiving one’s urban neighborhood as safe for children to play was positively associated with critical reflection and critical agency. This may suggest that child-specific safety cues function as distinct sociopolitical signals shaping SPD. Regarding religiosity and spirituality, subjective religiosity and spirituality were positively associated with critical reflection and agency but negatively associated with critical action, whereas organizational involvement (e.g., online religious service viewing) showed the opposite pattern. These findings support key tenets of SET-RS Urban, demonstrating that spatial, religious, and spiritual frames operate as distinct but interconnected sociopolitical signals in Black women’s SPD. This nuanced understanding of place-based and religio-spiritual cues points to the need for interventions and future research that account for the specific, rather than general, contextual markers shaping SPD in this population.