Many Black Adults’ Self-Identity Influenced by Close Relationships

A mother and her teenage daughter explore a market in Mexico. (MStudioImages via Getty Images)

Black Americans say they learn what it means to be a Black man or Black woman mainly from the people closest to them. Mothers play the largest role, followed by other personal connections, according to a Pew Research Center survey from June 2025.

About this research

This Pew Research Center analysis focuses on how much people and media have influenced Black Americans’ views of their identities as Black men or Black women.

Why did we do this?

Pew Research Center does research to inform the public, the media and decision-makers. This analysis builds on previous work about the importance of identity and family to Black Americans. It also builds on the Center’s work studying Americans’ gender identity.

Learn more about Pew Research Center, our research on Black Americans and our race and ethnicity research.

How did we do this?

We surveyed 4,271 U.S. Black adults from June 16 to 29, 2025, including 1,057 respondents from Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel and 3,214 from SSRS’s Opinion Panel. The survey is representative of the views of the full U.S. Black adult population, which includes U.S. adults who self-identify as Black, either alone or in combination with other races or a Hispanic identity.

In this survey, we asked Black adults an open-ended question about the most important thing they learned from the people who influenced them about being a Black man or Black woman. We chose quotations to highlight in this analysis for illustrative purposes; they don’t necessarily represent the majority opinion in any particular group or in the United States. Quotations have been edited for spelling, punctuation and style.

Here are our survey questions, the detailed responses and the survey methodology.

Acknowledgments

Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. This analysis was made possible with support from the Trusts and from the People & Voices Initiative. The Center is grateful to a panel of experts who gave advice on the survey and/or publication: Camille Burge-Hicks, chair and associate professor of political science at Villanova University; Shantel Buggs, associate professor of sociology and African American studies at Florida State University; Sean Joe, Benjamin E. Youngdahl professor of social development at Washington University in St. Louis.

Khadijah Edwards, former research associate, and Kiana Cox, former senior researcher, developed the survey questionnaire and the project, alongside Sahana Mukherjee, associate director of race and ethnicity research, and Carolyne Im, former research analyst.

We also appreciate guidance from Mark Hugo Lopez, director of race and ethnicity research; Eileen Yam, director of science and society research; and Juliana Menasce Horowitz, senior associate director, social and demographic trends research.

	Black men	Black women
Their mother	65	68
Their father	52	49
Their spouse or partner*	50	57
Their friends	49	54
Other family members	47	51
Religion or religious leaders	37	42
Their teachers	35	36

Roughly two-thirds of Black men (65%) say their mother has influenced their views about what it means to be a Black man a great deal or a fair amount. And 68% of Black women say the same about their views of being a Black woman.

About half or more of Black men and Black women say their father, spouse or partner, friends, and other family members have shaped their views.

Smaller shares say community members like religious leaders or teachers have influenced them.

In total, 79% of Black men and 83% of Black women say at least one of these connections has influenced them a great deal or a fair amount.

Do different media types shape views about being a Black man or a Black woman?

Black adults tend to be less likely to say different kinds of media have influenced their views about being a Black man or woman than to say this about the people in their lives.

	Black men	Black women
Entertainment media (such as television, movies, music, etc.)	36	39
Social media (such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, etc.)	24	31
Podcasts	16	18

36% of Black men and 39% of Black women say entertainment media (like TV, movies or music) have influenced their views of what it means to be a Black man or woman a great deal or a fair amount.
Smaller shares say the same about social media: 24% of Black men and 31% of Black women say platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube have influenced how they view being a Black man or woman.
Fewer still say this of podcasts: 16% of Black men and 18% of Black women cite podcasts as a large influence on their views.

Overall, 43% of Black men and 46% of Black women say at least one of these kinds of media have influenced them a great deal or a fair amount.

Younger Black adults are more likely than their older counterparts to say these forms of media have influenced their views, especially social media. This reflects younger adults’ greater use of social media in general.

29% of Black men under 50 say social media platforms have had a great deal or fair amount of influence for them on what it means to be a Black man. That compares with 17% of those ages 50 and older.
The gap is even larger among Black women: 41% of those under 50 say social media platforms have had a large influence for them on what it means to be a Black woman, compared with 16% of those 50 and older.

What have Black adults learned about being a Black man or woman from their relationships?

In an open-ended question, we asked Black adults to describe the most important thing they learned about being a Black man or woman from the people who influenced them.

Respondents mentioned a wide range of topics. Some wrote about values, character, self-confidence, resilience, or pride in Black identity or culture. Others mentioned experiences of discrimination, stereotypes or unequal treatment.

Here’s what some Black men say are the most important things they learned about being a Black man from those who influenced their views:

“Never to run away from responsibilities. … Leave it better than you found it. Always put God first and obey him.” – Black man, mid-40s

“The most important thing is being responsible for those under your care. Work hard and work well. Finish what you start. Manage your affairs with intelligence and integrity.” – Black man, early 70s

“Pride in ourselves, our culture, our music. Respect ourselves and each other.” – Black man, late 50s

“To always have class and represent my culture well. Consistently break the stereotypes of what Black or African American men are seen as. Also to work 10 times harder at everything I do to overcome the unspoken gap of racism in society.” – Black man, mid-40s

“That we must work hard and do our best to continually prove that we are competent, smart, loving and good people, and to know that no one is better than we are, as we are no better than anyone else.” – Black man, early 60s

Here are responses from Black women about the most important thing they learned about being a Black woman from those who influenced their views:

“I’ve learned that I am enough. … I can be soft and fierce, tired and powerful, and joyful and hurt.” – Black woman, early 60s

“What it means to be a Black woman in America is somewhat complicated. I am a combination of my life experiences, my aspirations and Black women in my life who have influenced me today. The most important thing about being a Black woman that I’ve learned is to not forget where my family comes from and what I continue to carry on.” – Black woman, early 20s

“That we always need to be put together. Aware of how we hold ourselves and how we look. Because prejudice for a Black woman comes in all forms. We are judged by what we wear, our skin color, our hair, our personalities, etc. We are seen as a group and not individuals.” – Black woman, mid-30s

“You can do all things. There is never ‘I can’t’ in my vocabulary.” – Black woman, late 60s

“To always take pride in myself [and] love myself unconditionally with flaws and all because that’s what makes me beautiful and unique. Take pride in the skin that I was born in.” – Black woman, early 40s

Note: Here are our survey questions, the detailed responses and the survey methodology.

Detailed tables

The tables below provide additional information about the people or media that have influenced Black adults’ views of their identities.

About two-thirds of Black men say their mother has influenced views of their identity

% of U.S. Black men who say __ has/have influenced their views about what it means to be a Black man a great deal or fair amount

	Their mother	Their father	Their spouse or partner*	Their friends	Other family members	Religion or religious leaders	Their teachers
Total
All Black men	65	52	50	49	47	37	35
Age
18-49	63	52	46	47	44	34	32
50+	67	53	55	52	51	42	40
Educational attainment
HS or less	65	51	55	48	47	40	37
Some college	66	53	47	49	47	37	34
Bachelor’s+	64	54	50	52	48	34	34
Income
Lower income	64	50	52	47	43	38	37
Middle income	64	54	49	51	50	36	31
Upper income	71	56	**	56	52	36	37
Partisanship
Rep/Lean Rep	57	51	**	42	44	32	28
Dem/Lean Dem	68	53	54	53	48	40	38
Religion
Christian	69	58	53	55	50	45	41
Unaffiliated	59	43	42	40	42	23	22
Community type
Urban	63	52	53	48	46	37	39
Suburban	65	51	49	53	48	36	31
Rural	**	**	**	**	**	**	**
Among Black men who say being Black is …
Extremely/Very important	75	60	60	60	56	45	44
Less important	41	33	22	25	25	19	13

* Responses for spouse or partner are among those who are married, living with a partner or in a committed relationship.
** Results are not shown due to small sample sizes.
Note: Results for other religious affiliations are not shown due to small sample size. Black respondents are single-race Black and non-Hispanic, Black and at least one other race and non-Hispanic, or Black and Hispanic. “Some college” includes those with an associate degree and those who attended college but did not obtain a degree. Family income tiers are based on adjusted 2024 earnings. Shares of respondents who didn’t answer are not shown.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted June 16-29, 2025.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Many Black women say various family members – especially mothers – have influenced their identity

% of U.S. Black men who say __ has/have influenced their views about what it means to be a Black man a great deal or fair amount

	Their mother	Their father	Their spouse or partner*	Their friends	Other family members	Religion or religious leaders	Their teachers
Total
All Black women	68	49	57	54	51	42	36
Age
18-49	66	48	55	53	49	38	35
50+	70	52	62	55	55	48	37
Educational attainment
HS or less	67	49	61	52	49	45	39
Some college	70	52	57	55	55	42	36
Bachelor’s+	66	47	53	53	49	37	32
Income
Lower income	70	51	61	54	52	45	38
Middle income	65	46	52	53	49	38	33
Upper income	74	56	59	59	54	34	36
Partisanship
Rep/Lean Rep	57	44	53	45	43	38	33
Dem/Lean Dem	71	51	60	57	54	43	37
Religion
Christian	71	51	59	56	53	47	36
Unaffiliated	60	46	52	47	48	27	32
Community type
Urban	70	51	58	58	57	43	37
Suburban	68	50	55	53	48	40	34
Rural	64	47	60	48	48	46	39
Among Black women who say being Black is …
Extremely/Very important	76	54	65	61	58	47	41
Less important	41	32	28	27	25	25	19

* Responses for spouse or partner are among those who are married, living with a partner or in a committed relationship.
Note: Results for other religious affiliations are not shown due to small sample size. Black respondents are single-race Black and non-Hispanic, Black and at least one other race and non-Hispanic, or Black and Hispanic. “Some college” includes those with an associate degree and those who attended college but did not obtain a degree. Family income tiers are based on adjusted 2024 earnings. Shares of respondents who didn’t answer are not shown.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted June 16-29, 2025.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

36% of Black men say entertainment media have influenced their identity

% of U.S. Black men who say __ has/have influenced their views about what it means to be a Black man a great deal or fair amount

	Entertainment media such as television, movies, music, etc.	Social media such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, etc.	Podcasts
Total
All Black men	36	24	16
Age
18-49	39	29	19
50+	32	17	12
Educational attainment
HS or less	40	27	21
Some college	33	23	14
Bachelor’s+	34	22	13
Income
Lower income	39	27	19
Middle income	34	21	15
Upper income	32	20	12
Partisanship
Rep/Lean Rep	34	26	25
Dem/Lean Dem	38	24	14
Religion
Christian	38	26	17
Unaffiliated	32	20	13
Community type
Urban	37	26	18
Suburban	33	21	13
Rural	*	*	*
Among Black men who say being Black is …
Extremely/Very important	43	27	20
Less important	20	15	8

* Results are not shown due to small sample size.
Note: Results for other religious affiliations are not shown due to small sample size. Black respondents are single-race Black and non-Hispanic, Black and at least one other race and non-Hispanic, or Black and Hispanic. “Some college” includes those with an associate degree and those who attended college but did not obtain a degree. Family income tiers are based on adjusted 2024 earnings. Shares of respondents who didn’t answer are not shown.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted June 16-29, 2025.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

39% of Black women say entertainment media have influenced their identity

% of U.S. Black women who say __ has/have influenced their views about what it means to be a Black woman a great deal or fair amount

	Entertainment media such as television, movies, music, etc.	Social media such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, etc.	Podcasts
Total
All Black women	39	31	18
Age
18-49	44	41	23
50+	31	16	9
Educational attainment
HS or less	49	39	22
Some college	35	32	17
Bachelor’s+	31	20	12
Income
Lower income	46	39	22
Middle income	31	24	13
Upper income	25	18	8
Partisanship
Rep/Lean Rep	43	37	24
Dem/Lean Dem	39	31	17
Religion
Christian	38	27	16
Unaffiliated	41	42	22
Community type
Urban	42	32	19
Suburban	35	30	16
Rural	42	35	19
Among Black women who say being Black is …
Extremely/Very important	42	34	19
Less important	27	24	12

Note: Results for other religious affiliations are not shown due to small sample size. Black respondents are single-race Black and non-Hispanic, Black and at least one other race and non-Hispanic, or Black and Hispanic. “Some college” includes those with an associate degree and those who attended college but did not obtain a degree. Family income tiers are based on adjusted 2024 earnings. Shares of respondents who didn’t answer are not shown.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted June 16-29, 2025.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

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Many Black Adults’ Self-Identity Influenced by Close Relationships

Why did we do this?

How did we do this?

Acknowledgments

Do different media types shape views about being a Black man or a Black woman?

What have Black adults learned about being a Black man or woman from their relationships?

Detailed tables

Beshay Sakla

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Detailed tables

Beshay Sakla

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