African Self-consciousness Research Articles

Mental Health Treatment-Seeking Appraisal, Afrocentric Cultural Norms, and Mental Health Functioning: Buffering Factors of Young Black Men's Externalizing Behavior.

Depression rates are disproportionately high among Black American Men. This disparity--compounded by low mental healthcare seeking rates and high incorrect diagnosis rates in men--could be related to masculine norms, including self-reliance, restrictive emotionality, and stoicism. Furthermore, men are more likely to engage in externalized behavior, such as aggression, to cope with mental health challenges; this pattern is influenced by cultural and environmental factors. Contrary to these detrimental factors, social relationships, belief in social networks, and collectivism have been associated with positive mental health in these populations. Similarly, an Afrocentric worldview (including concepts like Ubuntu and African self-consciousness) has been hypothesized to promote positive mental health outcomes among Black American men. However, little research exists on harnessing these factors as a means of increasing health-seeking behaviors in young Black males. To elucidate the effect of region, depression, African humanism, collectivism, and help-seeking values and needs concerning aggression in young Black males. This study included Black or African American participants (n = 428) identifying as male, aged 18-25 years, who responded to a Qualtrics survey with questions on region, aggression, depression, African humanism, collectivism, and help-seeking value and need. Hierarchical linear regression revealed that collectivism, humanness, value, and the need for seeking treatment were inversely associated with aggression (p < 0.001). Highlighting the effect of cultural norms and help-seeking behaviors and the aggravating effect of depression on aggression in young Black males can help to develop aggression-mitigating interventions rooted in Afrocentric Norms.

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.

Black Canadians' Coping Responses to Racial Discrimination

On the basis of a cultural coping framework, the present study examined coping responses to racial discrimination among 190 Black Canadians. The study assessed the respondents' coping with both general (i.e., problem- and emotion-focused coping) and Africultural coping strategies (i.e., spiritual-centered, collective, and ritual-centered coping) across three different racial discrimination vignettes (i.e., interpersonal, institutional, and cultural discrimination). Furthermore, three individual and cultural difference variables, African self-consciousness, social desirability, and past race-related stress, were controlled in the analyses. As predicted, the results of the profile analysis and multivariate analyses showed that both general and Africultural coping were used by the participants in responding to all three types of discrimination. Additionally, differential coping patterns were found depending on the context of racial discrimination. Overall, the study suggests that Black Canadians are exposed to multiple race-related stressors that require them to adopt a flexible repertoire of general and culture-specific coping strategies.

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.

An Exploration of African Americans' Interests and Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Traditional and Nontraditional Careers

Research on African Americans' career interests suggests that despite gains in education, African Americans have a tendency to major in and choose from a narrow range of occupations, namely, education and the social sciences. This study investigates several variables based on existing literature to identify the best predictors for interest in traditional occupations for 129 African American college students. Analyses show that gender and self-efficacy are the best predictors of interest in traditional occupations. African self-consciousness and perceptions of racist events are related to each other but not to interest in occupations. Results offer replication of prior research findings in self-efficacy theory that can be extended to an African American population.

The relationship between African Self-Consciousness, Cultural Misorientation, Hypermasculinity, and Rap Music Preference

The present study investigated whether the type of rap music listened to by African American males was dependent on their worldview. In this study, 72 African-American males completed measures of African Self-Consciousness (ASC), Cultural Misorientation (CM), Hypermasculinity (HM), and a Rap Music Preference Index developed specifically for this study. It was expected that preferences for different types of rap music would vary according to levels of ASC, CM, and HM. It is proposed that a strong ASC may serve as a buffer that limits the amount of exposure to rap lyrics that distort perceptions of African-American masculinity, and may redirect the interests of African-American males towards culturally affirmative experiences.

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.

The Impact of College Racial Composition on African American Students' Academic Self-Concept: A Replication and Extension

The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend Cokley's (2000) study by comparing the academic self-concept of African American students in a historically Black college and university setting (HBCU) and a predominantly White college and university setting (PWCU). A total of 396 African American students completed the Academic Self-Concept Scale (Reynolds Ramirez, Magrina, & Allen, 1980) and a demographic questionnaire. Consistent with Cokley's (2000) study, grade point average was the best predictor of academic self-concept for students attending the PWCU while quality of student-faculty interaction was the best predictor of academic self-concept for students attending HBCUs. Implications for how student affairs professionals can assist African American students as well as faculty are discussed. As a new decade begins, student development researchers continue to be interested in understanding the characteristics of colleges and universities that impact the development of college students. Several characteristics of a college or university have drawn considerable attention by prominent student development researchers. These characteristics include: (a) the size of the college (i.e., student-teacher ratio), (b) whether the college is publicly or privately funded, (c) whether the college is a 2-year or 4-year institution, (d) the selectivity of the college as measured by grade point averages (GPA) and standardized test scores of incoming students, and (e) the predominant racial composition of the college. Of these five characteristics, the predominant racial composition of the college has been examined most often when investigating the influences on the psychosocial development of African American college students. For the purpose of this study, research that focuses on comparing institutions of differing racial composition on various indicators of psychosocial development will be referred to by the acronym CIRC (comparative institutional racial composition). For example, several studies have focused on how the racial or cultural identity of African American college students is impacted by attending a predominantly White college or university (PWCU) versus a historically Black college or university (HBCU). Allen (1985) found that African American students attending an HBCU possessed a higher cultural awareness and commitment. Similarly, Baldwin, Duncan, and Bell (1987) reported that African American students attending an HBCU demonstrated a higher African self-- consciousness than African American students attending a PWCU. To the contrary, in a replication of the Baldwin et al. study, Cheatham, Tomlinson, and Ward (1990) found that African American students attending a PWCU were higher in African self-consciousness than African American students attending an HBCU. Cheatham, Slaney, and Coleman (1990) found that there was no difference in racial identity between African American students attending HBCUs and PWCUs. In an attempt to explain these contradictory findings, Cokley (1999) conducted a study in which he found no differences in the importance of racial identity between African American students attending HBCUs and PWCUs, but did find significant differences in the types of racial ideology African American students developed in each environment. He found that African American students attending HBCUs endorsed a more Black Nationalist ideology than their counterparts at PWCUs, while African American students attending PWCUs endorsed more humanist and assimilationist ideologies compared to their counterparts at HBCUs. Why these CIRC studies generated conflicting results is not altogether clear and has not been explicitly addressed in the literature. Several factors are most likely responsible for this. The first and perhaps most obvious factor pertains to methodology. For example, it can be argued that the samples were different in some meaningful way-namely different college samples were used. …

The effects of racism, african self-consciousness and psychological functioning on black masculinity: A historical and social adaptation framework

This theoretical paper examines the impact of racism and African self-consciousness on Black males' conceptions of masculinity and psychological functioning. Much of the literature on the masculinity of African American men has been based on theoretical reviews (Blazina, 1997; Franklin, 1994, 1985, 1986; Hall, 1992; Harris, 1992; Oliver, 1989; Pin 1996; Roberts, 1994, Rowan1996; Staples, 1978) or addressing theoretical models (Hunter, 1992). Several recent studies have attempted to examine empirically African American masculinity and ideology in relation to gender and race differences (Levant & Majors, 1997; Levant, Majors, & Kelley, 1998). These studies left several key questions unanswered. They failed to examine the impact of African self-consciousness, racism and discrimination on the endorsement of tradition and non-traditional masculinity ideology.

Consequences of the Black Sense of Self

In this study, the authors proposed that African Americans, unlike their European American counterparts, fashion a sense of self with a more collectivistic focus. Moreover, it was hypothesized that Black self-constructs should have a marked influence on a range of outcomes. Using a sample of African American adults, the influence of a multifaceted Black self-construct (African self-consciousness, ethnic identity, and Black identity) was examined on specific social and political orientations. Separating these self-constructs into African-centered and non-African-centered, the authors were able to show that the separate facets of the self-construct are correlated, reflect a strong sense of self, indicate a collectivist orientation, and tend to affect a number of important social and political orientations. African self-consciousness, as an example of African-centered theorizing of the concept of self, had an effect on almost all the outcomes in predictable ways and, in a comparative sense, was a more significant construct than the other facets.

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.

African American College Women's Body Image: An Examination of Body Mass, African Self-Consciousness, and Skin Color Satisfaction

The purpose of this study was to examine general and cultural factors associated with body image perceptions of African American women college students. A total of 124 African American college women attending a historically Black college completed the following scales: African Self-Consciousness (ASC) scale, the Skin Color Satisfaction Scale (SCSS), the Body Mass Index (BMI), and several body image measures. Results from simultaneous multiple regression analyses suggest that all three factors collectively accounted for a significant amount of variance in dimensions of body image satisfaction. Specifically, SCSS accounted for a significant amount of variance in three body image dimensions (i.e., appearance evaluation, satisfaction with specific body areas, internalization of social cultural messages of appearance), suggesting that the greater satisfaction with one's skin color was associated with more positive, internal perspectives of one's body image. The BMI accounted for a significant amount of variance in measures of appearance evaluation and satisfaction with body areas, such that greater BMI scores were related to a less positive evaluation of overall appearance but more satisfaction with specific body areas. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

African Self-Consciousness and Health-Promoting Behaviors among African American College Students

Empirical research has not examined the explicit relationship between cultural identity and health-promoting behavior. This study proposed three models of relationships between African self-consciousness (ASC), health consciousness (HC), and health-promoting behaviors (HPB) in a sample of African American college students. One model suggested that the relationship between ASC and HPB would be mediated by HC, whereas a second model hypothesized a moderating effect of HC. A third model denoted that ASC and HC might be orthogonal predictors of HPB. Eighty participants completed measures of ASC, HC, and HPB. Statistical analyses lent support for the third model and indicated that ASC contributes unique variance to HPB beyond that contributed by HC. These results emphasize the need for sound research that examines the role of cultural identity in health promotion among African Americans.

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.

Symbolic Interactionism, African American Families, and the Transracial Adoption Controversy

This article applies a cultural perspective in considering the opposition of some African Americans to transracial adoption. The article presents a historical review of the transracial adoption controversy, detailing the arguments that have been presented in opposition and the legislation that has evolved. Symbolic interactionism is used to frame African Americans as a unique and distinct cultural group, in which the socialization of African American children takes place. The framework presented encompasses the meaning of children, family, and adoption to people of African descent, the racial and ethnic group as the context within which definitions of self and identity develop, and the efforts made in seeking to balance the integrity of concepts such as Baldwin's African self-consciousness with the values and goals of the larger U.S. society. Finally, the author makes recommendations to social workers for developing a research agenda that maintains but critically analyzes the role of African American group identity for framing research for assessing child maltreatment within the context of poverty and resource deficiencies rather than personal failures and for advocating public policies that preserve cultural realities.

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.