African Self-Consciousness Scale Research Articles

Development and validation of the Internalized Racial Oppression Scale for Black individuals.

This article describes the development and validation of the Internalized Racial Oppression Scale (IROS) for Black individuals in 2 studies using a total sample of 468 Black college students. The IROS is intended to measure the degree to which racial oppression is internalized and replicated by Black individuals in the United States. An exploratory factor analysis suggested a five-factor solution: Belief in the Biased Representation of History (BRH), Devaluation of the African Worldview and Motifs (DAW), Alteration of Physical Appearance (APA), Internalization of Negative Stereotypes (INS), and Hair Change (HC). Confirmatory factory analysis supported an adequate model fit of a four-factor model: BRH, APA, INS, and HC. All factors of the IROS were positively correlated with the Pre-Encounter subscale of the Racial Identity Attitude Scale (RIAS-B; J. E. Helms & T. A. Parham, 1996), and 4 of the factors were negatively correlated with the Immersion/Emersion subscale of the RIAS-B. Four factors of the IROS were negatively correlated with all subscales and total scores of the African Self-Consciousness Scale (J. A. Baldwin & Y. R. Bell, 1985). These results provide some support of the validity of the IROS.

Exploratory Factor Analysis of African Self-Consciousness Scale Scores

This study replicates and extends prior studies of the dimensionality, convergent, and external validity of African Self-Consciousness Scale scores with appropriate exploratory factor analysis methods and a large gender balanced sample (N = 348). Viable one- and two-factor solutions were cross-validated. Both first factors overlapped significantly and were labeled "Embracing African Heritage." The second subscale of the two-factor solution was labeled "Refusal to Deny African Heritage." Only the structural validity of the first factor of the two-factor solution was fully consistent with prior findings. Partial evidence of convergent validity was found for all factors, and only the second factor of the two-factor solution received external validity support. Implications for usage of the African Self-Consciousness Scale and recommendations for further investigation are discussed.

Psychometric Properties of Scores on Three Black Racial Identity Scales

In this study, we examined the internal consistency and the structural validity of scores on the African Self-Consciousness Scale (ASCS), the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI), and the Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS). Participants consisted of 225 African American college students--75 attending predominantly White institutions (PWIs) and 150 attending historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Internal consistency estimates were above .60 for scores on one ASCS subscale, six MIBI subscales, and six CRIS subscales. Exploratory factor analytic procedures supported a two-factor structure for ASCS scores, a five-factor structure for MIBI scores, and a six-factor structure for CRIS scores. Implications for Black racial identity and scale development are discussed.

Examining African Self-Consciousness and Black Racial Identity as Predictors of Black Men's Psychological Well-Being.

This study investigated African self-consciousness and Black racial identity as predictors of psychological distress and self-esteem for Black men. One hundred thirty Black men from a college and community sample completed the African Self-Consciousness Scale, the Racial Identity Attitude Scale-B, the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised, and the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory. Canonical correlation analysis found 2 significant roots with the 1st root indicating that Black men whose attitudes reflected Preencounter and Immersion racial identity attitudes and who do not resist against anti-African/Black forces reported greater psychological distress and less esteem. Results from the 2nd root suggested that Black men whose attitudes reflect greater Internalization racial identity attitudes, greater resistance to anti-African/Black forces, and less identification with Blacks reported greater self-esteem.

Black Male College Students’ Attitudes Toward Seeking Psychological Help

This study examined the relationships between age, socioeconomic status (SES), cultural mistrust, African self-consciousness, and attitude about seeking psychological help in 131 Black male undergraduate and graduate students as measured by the Hollingshead Social Status Index, Cultural Mistrust Inventory (CMI), African Self-Consciousness scale (ASC), and Attitude Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help scale (ATSPPH). Pearson r correlations indicated small magnitude, statistically significant correlations between age and ATSPPH (.19) and SES and ATSPPH (−.22) and nonsignificant correlations between ASC and ATSPPH (−.10) and CMI and ATSPPH (−.14). Simultaneous multiple regression analysis with age, SES, CMI, and ASC as predictor variables and ATSPPH as criterion identified age and SES as the significant unique predictors ( R = .32, R² = .10). Findings indicated older, lower SES, Black, male students with lower CMI tended to have more positive attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help.

An Exploration of the Relationship between Racial Identity Attitudes and the Perception of Racial Bias

This study explored the relationship between specific theories of racial identity attitudes and the asymmetry hypothesis—which states that discriminatory acts perpetrated by the strong against the weak will be seen as more biased than similar acts perpetrated by the weak against the strong. Participants consisted of 92 African American undergraduate students who completed the Racial Identity Attitude Scale (RIAS), the African Self-Consciousness Scale (ASC), and the Discriminatory Scenarios Questionnaire. Pro-Black attitudes were positively correlated with the attribution of more racial bias to White as compared to African American characters who were described as discriminating against individuals not of their racial group. No significant relationship was found between anti-Black attitudes and the attribution of racial bias. This study also investigated the relationship between the RIAS and the ASC.

Africentric Theory as a Predictor of Adoption Among African Americans

A multiple logistic regression analysis examined Afri-centricity as a predictor of adoption among 92 respondents who labeled their racial or ethnic identity as Black or as African American. Forty-eight had adopted at least one child and 44 had inquired but did not adopt. Persons with high scores on the Self-Reinforcement Against Racism sub-scale of Baldwin and Bell's (1985) African Self-Consciousness Scale (as factor analyzed by Stokes, Murray, Peacock, & Kaiser, 1994) were significantly more likely to adopt, compared to those with lower scores, controlling for one's reason for contacting an adoption agency initially (i.e., parent-centered versus child-centered reason). Results are discussed in terms of the multidimensionality of Africentricity. Implications for social work research, practice, and policy are given.

Social Identity and Preferred Ethnic/Racial Labels for Blacks in Canada

A number of studies conducted in the United States have found that Black and African American are the preferred labels for ethnic/racial self-designation by Blacks. The purpose of this study was to assess which labels were preferred (and disliked) by a sample of Black Canadian students (N = 101), as well as to uncover the personal meanings of their preferred labels. In addition, the relationships between label preferences and measures of ethnic/racial identity developed in America (African Self-Consciousness Scale, Black Racial Identity Attitude Scale) and Canada (York Ethnic Identification Scale) were examined. Although Black was the most preferred label, the following four types of preferred labels were identified: Black, Africentric, Caribbean, and Canadian. Different label preferences were associated with different measures of social identity. Issues of social identity and ethnic/racial self-designation for Blacks in Canada are discussed.

African Self-Consciousness, Misorientation Behavior, and a Self-Destructive Disorder: African American Male Crack-Cocaine Users

Addiction to substances is among the self-destructive disordersfound in the Azibo nosology. It is theorized that underlying these disorders is psychological misorientation that results from a distortion in African Self-Consciousness (ASC). To explore ASC and the relationship between it and misorientation behavior for a population of 101 African American males suffering from crack-cocaine addiction, the ASC scale and a background questionnaire measuring misorientation behaviorwere administered, andfactorand chi-square analyses were conducted. The results ofafactor analysis of the ASC scale yielded twofactors and indicated that there may be some distortion inASCfor this population. Chi-square analyses revealed no significant difference in misorientation behavior between the first and fourth quartile groups created on the two factors. Chi square analyses conducted on the total sample classified into three ASC orientation groups (incorrect ASC orientation, ASC orientation unclear, ASC orientation correct); however, they did yield significant differences in misorientation behavior Results are discussed in terms of Kambon 's (1992) African personality theory, the Azibo nosology (Azibo, 1989, in press), and psychodynamics perhaps characteristic of this population.

African American Evaluations of Black English and Standard American English

AfricanAmerican undergraduates evaluated two language guises: BlackEnglish and Standard American English. The speaker in these guises described activities in a weekend (informal) and in a business (formal) setting. Based on their scores on the African Self-Consciousness Scale, 55 respondents were categorized as having either a low or high commitment to an African American identity. Results showed that persons without a committed Black identity evaluated Black English as lower on status than those with a committed Black identity. Black English was not perceived as reflecting higher social solidarity.

The Relationship between Afrocentric Values and Racial Identity Attitudes: Validation of the Belief Systems Analysis Scale on African American College Students

The Belief Systems Analysis Scale (BSAS) was administered to 171 African American college students attending Black studies classes at a predominantly White institution to provide further evidence on the psychometric properties of the instrument. The Racial Identity Attitude Scale (RIAS) and the African Self-Consciousness Scale (ASCS) were used to provide construct validity and determine the relationship between an optimalAfrocentric belief system, racial identity attitudes, and African self-consciousness. Thefindings support the use of the total BSAS scale as ameasure of optimalAfrocentric values, although afactor analysis failed to confirm the structure on two of the five subscales as defined in the previous administration of the instrument on a sample of White college students. A direct relationship was found between the BSAS and the RIAS but not between the BSAS and the ASCS. It is suggested that Afrocentric values and African self-consciousness may represent separate domains of the overall African American identity structure.

Assessing the Reliability, Factor Structure, and Validity of the African Self-Consciousness Scale in a General Population of African Americans

The purposes of this study were to conduct afactor analysis of Baldwin and Bell's African Self-Consciousness (ASC) Scale, evaluate the effect of demographic variables on one's African self-consciousness, and relate the ASC Scale scores to criterion behaviors in a non-Southern and noncollege population. The scale was administered to 147AfricanAmericans residing in three Southern California cities. The ASC Scale's reliability, factor structure, and construct validity were examined. The scale had a Cronbach's alpha of .78. Principal axesfactoranalysis foundfourfactors, and it is suggested that 32 out of 42 items be retained to formulate the revised subscale dimensions identified as Personal Identification With the Group, Self-ReinforcementAgainstRacism, Racial and Cultural Awareness, and Value for African Culture. The ASC Scale appears to be a viable instrument for use in research investigating African Americans.

Assessment of African Self-Consciousness among Black Students from Two College Environments

This research investigated the relationship between social cultural setting and background characteristics to African self-consciousness (ASC) as measured by the ASC Scale. Two hundred fifty Black college students, half from pre dominantly Black Florida A&M University (FAMU) and half from predominantly White Florida State University (FSU), were administered the ASC Scale and a background questionnaire. The findings revealed that: (a) FAMU stu dents obtained significantly higher ASC Scale scores than FSU students; (b) older students obtained significantly higher ASC scores than younger students; (c) upper level students obtained higher ASC scores than lower level stu dents, and this effect was more pronounced for FAMU students than for FSU students; (d) students with Black Studies backgrounds obtained higher ASC Scale scores than did students without this experience, especially for the FSU students; (e) FAMU students with all-Black elementary school backgrounds obtained higher ASC Scale scores than did the other students. It concluded: (a) that the African self-consciousness construct appears to be an important factor in explaining differences in psychological functioning and behavior among Black students in different sociocultural settings; and (b) that Black sociocultural settings and pro- Black experiential emphases are probably facilitative of healthy Black personality functioning.