From Alienation to Efficacy: An Examination of Racial Identity and Racial Academic Stereotypes Among Black Male Adolescents

Abstract

Black male adolescents face unique barriers in schools that may contribute to racial disparities in educational outcomes. Their social-cognitive strengths, however, influence their confidence to be academically successful despite these barriers. This study explored whether racial academic stereotypes and racial centrality were associated with and predicted school efficacy among 103 urban Black male adolescents. Findings indicated that racial centrality had the strongest relationship with and was the strongest predictor of school efficacy. Youth mentoring programs and educators who work with urban Black male adolescents play a key role in promoting and shaping their efficacious beliefs toward their academic success.

Keywords

racial centrality racial identity racial stereotypes academic self-efficacy academic achievement Black adolescents adolescent African American students Black males race

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Awad

G. H.

(2007). The role of racial identity, academic self-concept, and self-esteem in the prediction of academic outcomes for African American students. Journal of Black Psychology, 33, 188-207.

Bandura

(1982). Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist, 37, 122-147.

Bandura

(1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bandura

(1989). Regulation of cognitive processes through perceived self-efficacy. Developmental Psychology, 25, 729-735.

Bandura

(1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman.

Bandura

(2006). Toward a psychology of human agency. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, 164-180.

Bandura

Barbaranelli

Caprara

Pastorelli

(2001). Self-efficacy beliefs as shapers of children’s aspirations and career trajectories. Child Development, 72, 187-206.

Bonilla-Silva

(1997). Rethinking racism: Toward a structural interpretation. American Sociological Review, 62, 465-480.

Bussey

Bandura

(1999). Social cognitive theory of gender development and differentiation. Psychological Review, 106, 676-713.

10.

Caprara

G. V.

Fida

Vecchione

Del Bove

Vecchio

G. M.

Barbaranelli

Bandura

(2008). Longitudinal analysis of the role of perceived self-efficacy for self-regulated learning in academic continuance and achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 525-534.

11.

Carter

P. L.

(2003). “Black” cultural capital, status positioning, and schooling conflicts for low-income African American youth. Social Problems, 50, 136-155.

12.

Chavous

T. M.

Bernat

D. H.

Schmeelk-Cone

Caldwell

C. H.

Kohn-Wood

Zimmerman

M. A.

(2003). Racial identity and academic attainment among African American adolescents. Child Development, 74, 1076-1090.

13.

Chavous

T. M.

Rivas-Drake

Smalls

Griffin

Cogburn

(2008). Gender matters, too: The influences of school racial discrimination and racial identity on academic engagement outcomes among African American adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 44, 637-654.

14.

Cokley

K. O.

(2000). An investigation of academic self-concept and its relationship to academic achievement in African American college students. Journal of Black Psychology, 26, 148-164.

15.

Cokley

K. O.

(2002). Ethnicity, gender, and academic self-concept: A preliminary examination of academic disidentification and implications for psychologists. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 8, 378-388.

16.

Cokley

K. O.

Chapman

(2008). The roles of ethnic identity, anti-white attitudes, and academic self-concept in African American student achievement. Social Psychology of Education, 11, 349-365.

17.

Coleman

J. S.

(1968). Equality of educational opportunity. Integrated Education, 6(5), 19-28.

18.

Cross

W. E.

(1978). The Thomas and cross models of psychological Nigrescence: A review. Journal of Black Psychology, 5, 13-31.

19.

Cross

W. E.

Cross

T. B.

(2008). Theory, research, and models. In Quintana

S. M.

McKown

(Eds.), Handbook of race, racism, and the developing child (pp. 154-181). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons

20.

Cudeck

(2000). Exploratory factor analysis. In Tinsley

H. E.

Brown

S. D.

(Eds.), Handbook of applied multivariate statistics and mathematical modeling (pp. 265-296). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

21.

Davis

Aronson

Salinas

(2006). Shades of threat: Racial identity as a moderator of stereotype threat. Journal of Black Psychology, 32, 399-417.

22.

Davis

J. E.

(2003). Early schooling and academic achievement of African American males. Urban Education, 38, 515-537.

23.

DuBois

D. L.

Holloway

B. E.

Valentine

J. C.

Cooper

(2002). Effectiveness of mentoring programs for youth: A meta-analytic review. American Journal of Community Psychology, 30, 157-197.

24.

Duncan

G. J.

Brooks-Gunn

Klebanov

P. K.

(1994). Economic deprivation and early childhood development. Child Development, 65, 296-318.

25.

Epps

E. G.

(1995). Race, class, and educational opportunity: Trends in the sociology of education. Sociological Forum, 10, 593-608.

26.

Evans

A. B.

Banerjee

Meyer

Aldana

Foust

Rowley

(2012). Racial socialization as a mechanism for positive development among African American youth. Child Development Perspectives, 6, 251-257.

27.

Evans

A. B.

Copping

K. E.

Rowley

S. J.

Kurtz-Costes

(2011). Academic self-concept in Black adolescents: Do race and gender stereotypes matter? Self and Identity, 10, 263-277.

28.

Fashola

O. S.

(2003). Developing the talents of African American male students during the nonschool hours. Urban Education, 38, 398-430.

29.

Ferla

Valcke

Cai

(2009). Academic self-efficacy and academic self-concept: Reconsidering structural relationships. Learning and Individual Differences, 19, 499-505.

30.

Ford

D. Y.

Harris

J. J.

(1996). Perceptions and attitudes of Black students toward school, achievement, and other educational variables. Child Development, 67, 1141-1152.

31.

Garibaldi

A. M.

(2007). The educational status of African American males in the 21st century. The Journal of Negro Education, 76, 324-333.

32.

Goosby

B. J.

Caldwell

C. H.

Bellatorre

Jackson

J. S.

(2012). Ethnic differences in family stress processes among African-Americans and Black Caribbeans. Journal of African American Studies, 16, 406-422.

33.

Gordon

D. M.

Iwamoto

Ward

Potts

Boyd

(2009). Mentoring urban Black middle-school male students: Implications for academic achievement. The Journal of Negro Education, 78, 277-289.

34.

Greenwald

A. G.

Banaji

M. R.

Rudman

L. A.

Farnham

S. D.

Nosek

B. A.

Mellott

D. S.

(2002). A unified theory of implicit attitudes, stereotypes, self-esteem, and self-concept. Psychological Review, 109, 3-25.

35.

Holland

M. M.

(2012). Only here for the day: The social integration of minority students at a majority White High School. Sociology of Education, 85, 101-120.

36.

Howard

T. C.

(2003). “A tug of war for our minds”: African American high school students’ perceptions of their academic identities and college aspirations. The High School Journal, 87(1), 4-17.

37.

Howard

T. C.

(2010). Why race and culture matter in schools: Closing the achievement gap in America’s classrooms. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

38.

Jonson-Reid

Davis

Saunders

Williams

J. H.

(2005). Academic self-efficacy among African American youths: Implications for school social work practice. Children & Schools, 27, 5-14.

39.

Jordan

W. J.

Cooper

(2002). Cultural issues related to high school reform: Deciphering the case of Black males. Baltimore, MD: Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk.

40.

Kerpelman

J. L.

Eryigit

Stephens

C. J.

(2008). African American adolescents’ future education orientation: Associations with self-efficacy, ethnic identity, and perceived parental support. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37, 997-1008.

41.

Kurtz-Costes

Rowley

S. J.

Harris-Britt

Woods

T. A.

(2008). Gender stereotypes about mathematics and science and self-perceptions of ability in late childhood and early adolescence. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 54, 386-409.

42.

Lent

R. W.

Brown

S. D.

Gore

P. A.

Jr. (1997). Discriminant and predictive validity of academic self-concept, academic self-efficacy, and mathematics-specific self-efficacy. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 44, 307-315.

43.

Loury

G. C.

(2003). Racial stigma: Toward a new paradigm for discrimination theory. American Economic Review, 93, 334-337.

44.

Lynn

Bacon

Totten

Bridges

Jennings

(2010). Examining teachers’ beliefs about African American male students in a low-performing high school in an African American school district. Teachers College Record, 112(1), 289-330.

45.

Marable

(2002). The great wells of democracy: The meaning of race in American life. New York, NY: BasicCivitas Books.

46.

Murray

(2009). Parent and teacher relationships as predictors of school engagement and functioning among low-income urban youth. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 29, 376-404.

47.

Neblett

E. W.

Philip

C. L.

Cogburn

C. D.

Sellers

R. M.

(2006). African American adolescents’ discrimination experiences and academic achievement: Racial socialization as a cultural compensatory and protective factor. Journal of Black Psychology, 32, 199-218.

48.

Noguera

P. A.

(2003). The trouble with Black boys: The role and influence of environmental and cultural factors on the academic performance of African American males. Urban Education, 38, 431-459.

49.

O’Connor

Hill

L. D.

Robinson

S. R.

(2009). Who’s at risk in school and what’s race got to do with it? Review of Research in Education, 33, 1-34.

50.

Okeke

N. A.

Howard

L. C.

Kurtz-Costes

Rowley

S. J.

(2009). Academic race stereotypes, academic self-concept, and racial centrality in African American youth. Journal of Black Psychology, 35, 366-387.

51.

Pajares

(1996). Self-efficacy beliefs in academic settings. Review of Educational Research, 66, 543-578.

52.

Payne

Y. A.

(2011). Site of resilience: A reconceptualization of resiliency and resilience in street life-oriented Black men. Journal of Black Psychology, 37, 426-451.

53.

Payne

Y. A.

Brown

T. M.

(2010). The educational experiences of street-life-oriented Black boys: How Black boys use street life as a site of resilience in high school. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 26, 316-338.

54.

Portes

Zhou

(1992). Gaining the upper hand: Economic mobility among immigrant and domestic minorities. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 15, 491-522.

55.

Quillian

Pager

(2001). Black neighbors, higher crime? The role of racial stereotypes in evaluations of neighborhood crime 1. American Journal of Sociology, 107, 717-767.

56.

Reynolds

Burge

(2008). Educational expectations and the rise in women’s post-secondary attainments. Social Science Research, 37, 485-499.

57.

Rivas-Drake

Chavous

T. M.

(2007). Understanding achievement motivation within the context of racial stratification: Racial identity and academic adjustment among African Americans. In Salili

Hoosain

(Eds.), Culture, motivation, and learning: A multicultural perspective (pp. 287-321). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

58.

Rivas-Drake

Seaton

E. K.

Markstrom

Quintana

Syed

Lee

R. M.

. . .Yip

(2014). Ethnic and racial identity in adolescence: Implications for psychosocial, academic, and health outcomes. Child Development, 85, 40-57.

59.

Rowley

L. L.

Bowman

P. J.

(2009). Risk, protection, and achievement disparities among African American males: Cross-generation theory, research, and comprehensive intervention. The Journal of Negro Education, 78, 305-320.

60.

Saunders

Davis

Williams

J. H.

(2004). Gender differences in self-perceptions and academic outcomes: A study of African American high school students. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 33, 81-90.

61.

Schafer

J. L.

(1999). Multiple imputation: A primer. Statistical Methods in Medical Research, 8, 3-15.

62.

Schott Foundation for Public Education. (2012). The urgency of now: Schott 50 state report on public education for Black males. Cambridge, MA. Available from http://www.blackboysreport.org

63.

Schunk

D. H.

Zimmerman

B. J.

(2008). Motivation and self-regulated learning: Theory, research, and applications. New York, NY: Taylor Francis Group.

64.

Seaton

E. K.

Caldwell

C. H.

Sellers

R. M.

Jackson

J. S.

(2008). The prevalence of perceived discrimination among African American and Caribbean Black youth. Developmental Psychology, 44, 1288-1297.

65.

Sellers

R. M.

(1993). A call to arms for researchers studying racial identity. Journal of Black Psychology, 19, 327-332.

66.

Sellers

R. M.

Chavous

T. M.

Cooke

D. Y.

(1998). Racial ideology and racial centrality as predictors of African American college students’ academic performance. Journal of Black Psychology, 24, 8-27.

67.

Sellers

R. M.

Rowley

S. A.

Chavous

T. M.

Shelton

J. N.

Smith

M. A.

(1997). Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity: A preliminary investigation of reliability and construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 805-815.

68.

Sellers

R. M.

Smith

M. A.

Shelton

J. N.

Rowley

S. A.

Chavous

T. M.

(1998). Multidimensional model of racial identity: A reconceptualization of African American racial identity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2, 18-39.

69.

Sherer

Maddux

J. E.

Mercandante

Prentice-Dunn

Jacobs

Rogers

R. W.

(1982). The self-efficacy scale: Construction and validation. Psychological Reports, 51, 663-671.

70.

Skiba

R. J.

(2008). Achieving equity in special education: History, status, and current challenges. Exceptional Children, 74, 264-288.

71.

Slaughter

D. T.

Epps

E. G.

(1987). The home environment and academic achievement of Black American children and youth: An overview. The Journal of Negro Education, 56, 3-20.

72.

Smith

E. P.

Walker

Fields

Brookins

C. C.

Seay

R. C.

(1999). Ethnic identity and its relationship to self-esteem, perceived efficacy and prosocial attitudes in early adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 22, 867-880.

73.

Spencer

M. B.

(1999). Social and cultural influences on school adjustment: The application of an identity-focused cultural ecological perspective. Educational Psychologist, 34, 43-57.

74.

Spencer

M. B.

Cole

S. P.

DuPree

Glymph

Pierre

(1993). Self-efficacy among urban African American early adolescents: Exploring issues of risk, vulnerability, and resilience. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 719-739.

75.

Spencer

M. B.

Dupree

Hartmann

(1997). A Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST): A self-organization perspective in context. Development and Psychopathology, 9, 817-833.

76.

Steele

C. M.

(1997). A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. American Psychologist, 52, 613-629.

77.

Steele

C. M.

Spencer

S. J.

Aronson

(2002). Contending with group image: The psychology of stereotype and social identity threat. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 379-440.

78.

Stewart

E. B.

Stewart

E. A.

Simons

R. L.

(2007). The effect of neighborhood context on the college aspirations of African American adolescents. American Educational Research Journal, 44, 896-919.

79.

Swanson

D. P.

Cunningham

Spencer

M. B.

(2003). Black males’ structural conditions, achievement patterns, normative needs, and “opportunities.” Urban Education, 38, 608-633.

80.

Tabachnick

B. G.

Fidell

L. S.

(2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

81.

Taylor

Grundy

(1996). Measuring black internalization of white stereotypes about African Americans: The Nadanolitization Scale. In Jones

R. L.

(Ed.), Handbook of tests and measurements for Black populations (Vol. 2, pp. 217-226). Hampton VA: Cobb & Henry Publishers.

82.

Taylor

V. J.

Walton

G. M.

(2011). Stereotype threat undermines academic learning. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 1055-1067.

83.

Tyler

K. M.

(2014). Identity and African American men: Exploring the content of our characterization. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

84.

Uwah

C. J.

McMahon

H. G.

Furlow

C. F.

(2008). School belonging, educational aspirations, and academic self-efficacy among African American male high school students: Implications for school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 11, 296-305.

85.

Wang

M.-T.

Peck

S. C.

(2013). Adolescent educational success and mental health vary across school engagement profiles. Developmental Psychology, 49, 1266-1276.

86.

Witherspoon

K. M.

Speight

S. L.

Thomas

A. J.

(1997). Racial identity attitudes, school achievement, and academic self-efficacy among African American high school students. Journal of Black Psychology, 23, 344-357.

87.

Woodland

M. H.

(2008). Whatcha doin’ after school? A review of the literature on the influence of after-school programs on young Black males. Urban Education, 43, 537-560.

88.

Woodland

M. H.

Martin

J. F.

Hill

R. L.

Worrell

F. C.

(2009). The most blessed room in the city: The influence of a youth development program on three young Black males. The Journal of Negro Education, 78, 233-245.

89.

Zajacova

Lynch

Espenshade

(2005). Self-efficacy, stress, and academic success in college. Research in Higher Education, 46, 677-706.

90.

Zimmerman

Bandura

Martinez-Pons

(1992). Self-motivation for academic attainment: The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goal setting. American Educational Research Journal, 29, 663-676.