Stephanie J. Rowley

Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity: A Reconceptualization of African American Racial Identity

Research on African American racial identity has utilized 2 distinct approaches. The mainstream approach has focused on universal properties associated with ethnic and racial identities. In contrast, the underground approach has focused on documenting the qualitative meaning of being African American, with an emphasis on the unique cultural and historical experiences of African Americans. The Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity (MMRI) represents a synthesis of the strengths of these two approaches. The underlying assumptions associated with the model are explored. The model proposes 4 dimensions of African American racial identity: salience, centrality, regard, and ideology. A description of these dimensions is provided along with a discussion of how they interact to influence behavior at the level of the event. We argue that the MMRI has the potential to make contributions to traditional research objectives of both approaches, as well as to provide the impetus to explore new questions.

The Relationship Between Racial Identity and Self-Esteem in African American College and High School Students

The Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity was used to examine the relationship between racial identity and personal self-esteem (PSE) in a sample of African American college students (n = 173) and a sample of African American high school students (n = 72). Racial identity was assessed using the Centrality and Regard scales of the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity, whereas the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was used to assess PSE. Four predictions were tested: (a) racial centrality is weakly but positively related to PSE; (b) private regard is moderately related to PSE; (c) public regard is unrelated to PSE; and (d) racial centrality moderates the relationship between private regard and PSE. Multiple regression analysis found that racial centrality and public racial regard were unrelated to PSE in both samples. Private regard was positively related to PSE in the college sample. Racial centrality moderated the relationship between private regard and PSE in both samples, such that the relationship was significant for those with high levels of centrality but nonsignificant for those with low levels.

Academic Socialization: Understanding Parental Influences on Children's School-Related Development in the Early Years

This review summarizes the research literature on the academic socialization of children within the family context. A conceptual model is introduced that describes the process of academic socialization, including parental experiences in school, parental school-related cognitions, and specific parenting behaviors. Parental attitudes and practices provide the foundation for childrens development of schemas about school performance and thus are critical determinants of childrens early school experiences. In addition, recent efforts to understand the role of transition practices aimed at facilitating childrens early adjustment in school are described. The present review extends the transition practices literature by providing a developmental perspective on parenting influences on childrens academic socialization, within an ecological systems perspective. The authors describe academic socialization as a process that occurs under the broad umbrella of socioeconomic and cultural contexts.

Social Risk and Protective Factors for African American Children's Academic Achievement and Adjustment during the Transition to Middle School.

The transition to middle school is often marked by decreased academic achievement and increased emotional stress, and African American children exposed to social risk may be especially vulnerable during this transition. To identify mediators and protective factors, the authors related severity and timing of risk exposure to academic achievement and adjustment between 4th and 6th grade in 74 African American children. Longitudinal analyses indicated that severity more than timing of risk exposure was negatively related to all outcomes and that language skills mediated the pathway from risk for most outcomes. Transition to middle school was related to lower math scores and to more externalizing problems when children experienced higher levels of social risk. Language skills and parenting served as protective factors, whereas expectations of racial discrimination was a vulnerability factor. Results imply that promoting parenting and, especially, language skills, and decreasing expectations of racial discrimination provide pathways to academic success for African American children during the transition from elementary to middle school, especially those exposed to adversity.

Academic Race Stereotypes, Academic Self-Concept, and Racial Centrality in African American Youth

The relation between academic race stereotype endorsement and academic self-concept was examined in two studies of seventh- and eighth-grade African Americans. Based on expectancy-value theory, the authors hypothesized that academic race stereotype endorsement would be negatively related to self-perceptions. Furthermore, it was anticipated that the relation between stereotype endorsement and self-perceptions would be moderated by racial centrality. The hypothesis was supported in two independent samples. Among students with high racial centrality, endorsement of traditional race stereotypes was linked to lower self-perceptions of academic competence. The stereotype/self-concept relation was nonsignificant among youth for whom race was less central to their identities. These results confirm the supposition of expectancy-value theory and illustrate the interweaving of group and individual identity with motivational beliefs.

Racial Identity, Social Context, and Race-Related Social Cognition in African Americans during Middle Childhood.

This study examined the effect of changes in racial identity, cross-race friendships, same-race friendships, and classroom racial composition on changes in race-related social cognition from 3rd to 5th grade for 73 African American children. The goal of the study was to determine the extent to which preadolescent racial identity and social context predict expectations of racial discrimination in cross-race social interactions (social expectations). Expectations of racial discrimination were assessed using vignettes of cross-race social situations involving an African American child in a social interaction with European Americans. There were 3 major findings. First, expectations for discrimination declined slightly from 3rd to 5th grade. Second, although racial composition of childrens classrooms, number of European American friends, gender, and family poverty status were largely unrelated to social expectations, having more African American friends was associated with expecting more discrimination in cross-racial interactions from 3rd to 5th grade. Third, increases in racial centrality were related to increases in discrimination expectations, and increases in public regard were associated with decreases in discrimination expectations. These data suggest that as early as 3rd grade, children are forming attitudes about their racial group that have implications for their cross-race social interactions.

When Who I Am Impacts How I Am Represented: Addressing Minority Student Issues in Different Contexts. Racial Identity in Context for the Gifted African American Student.

The role of race in the lives of gifted African American students is an understudied phenomenon. The discourse in the literature regarding the influence of racial identity on academic achievement has been relatively narrow, often ignoring such important conceptual issues as the fact that racial identity is dynamic across situations; that race is not important to all African Americans; that the individuals assessment of what is African American is most important; and that racial identity cannot be understood without examining the social context. This critical review of the literature draws on both developmental and social psychological research to suggest that these assumptions are shortsighted and lead to unnecessarily simplistic recommendations for intervention and policy.

Raising Ethnic-Racial Consciousness: The Relationship Between Intergroup Dialogues and Adolescents’ Ethnic-Racial Identity and Racism Awareness

Empirical evidence shows that intergroup dialogue programs promote changes in ethnic-racial identity and racism awareness among college students. Expanding on this research, this study examines the effects of intergroup dialogues on adolescents’ racial consciousness. Self-reports of 147 adolescents (13–19 years old), of various racial and ethnic backgrounds were used. Repeated-measures ANOVAs, on pre- and post-tests examined changes in racial consciousness (ethnic-racial identity and racism awareness), controlling for parent education. Group differences (ethnic-racial groups, nativity) also were examined. As predicted, ethnic-racial identity and racism awareness increased after completing the program. Although there were statistically significant ethnic-racial group differences in ethnic-racial identity, no group differences in racism awareness were found. The findings demonstrate that intergroup dialogues can promote adolescents’ ethnic-racial consciousness.

Increasing Diversity in Cognitive Developmental Research: Issues and Solutions.

The current article discusses the importance of increasing racial-ethnic and socioeconomic diversity in cognitive developmental research. It begins with discussion of the implications of the underrepresentation of ethnic minority children in cognitive developmental research. It goes on to suggest reasons underlying these omissions, such as the cost of effective recruitment methods, fear of committing cultural faux pas, and lack of expertise interacting with such populations. Finally, recommendations for addressing such limitations are provided via examples of successful and innovative methodological techniques used in prior research with ethnic minority children.

Community Violence and Racial Socialization: Their Influence on the Psychosocial Well-Being of African American College Students

The present study investigated the links between community violence exposure (witnessing and direct victimization) and racial socialization and psychological well-being in a sample of 281African American college students (76% female). We predicted that community violence exposure would be negatively related to psychosocial well-being. Additionally, it was hypothesized that the dimensions of racial socialization, cultural socialization and preparation for bias, would mitigate the effects of community violence exposure on psychosocial well-being. Consistent with the research hypotheses, the results from this study show that racial socialization buffers the effects of community violence exposure on mental health outcomes. Implications for assessing exposure to community violence and how racial socialization may mitigate psychosocial well-being are discussed.