The authors examine the structure of African American belief systems across different age strata or cohorts. The authors speculate that, because of negative categorical treatment on the part of the dominant culture, African Americans in different age cohorts possess and share a common schemalike set of beliefs, culminating in “double consciousness.” The results demonstrate substantial similarity across age cohorts of African Americans in their understanding of these belief systems and their tendency to share a strong sense of group attachment and self-worth. The results also indicate substantial overall mean differences in age groups. Further, the authors found that the different constructs of these belief systems relate differentially to an individual’s sense of well-being and system orientation for those who came of age during the Civil Rights era, especially as compared to those who were socialized during an earlier era.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allen, R. L.
(2001). The self: A study in black. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.
2.
Allen, R. L.
, & Bagozzi, R. P. (2001). Consequences of the black sense of self. Journal of Black Psychology, 27, 3-28.
3.
Allen, R. L.
, Dawson, M. C., & Brown, R. E. (1989). A schema-based approach to modeling an African American racial belief system. American Political Science Review, 83, 421-441.
4.
Allen, R. L.
, Thornton, M. C., & Watkins, S. C. (1992). An African American racial belief system and social structural relationships: A test of invariance. National Journal of Sociology, 6(2), 157-186.
5.
Bagozzi, R. P.
, & Edwards, J. R. (1998). A general approach for representing constructs in organizational research. Organizational Research Methods, 1, 45-87.
6.
Bagozzi, R. P.
, & Heatherton, T. F. (1994). A general approach to representing multifaceted personality constructs: Application to state self-esteem. Structural Equation Modeling, 1, 35-67.
7.
Bengtson, V. L.
, & Cutler, N. E. (1976). Generations and intergenerational relations: Perspectives on age groups and social change. In R. H. Binstock & E. Shanas (Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences. Cincinnati, OH: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
8.
Bentler, P. M.
(1990). Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 238-246.
9.
Bobo, L. (1984). Racial hegemony: Group conflict, prejudice, and the paradox of American racial attitudes. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
10.
Bollen, K. A.
(1989). Structural equation modeling with latent variables. New York: John Wiley.
11.
Broman, C. L.
, Neighbors, H. W., & Jackson, J. S. (1988). Racial group identification among Black adults. Social Forces, 67, 146-158.
12.
Brown, R. E.
, Allen, R. L, & Dawson, M. C. (1989). A racial belief system: An examination of gender differences. Unpublished manuscript, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
13.
Browne, M. W.
, & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136-162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
14.
Chaffee, S. H.
(1991). Explication. Newbury Park, CA; Sage.
15.
Cone, J. F.
(1970). A Black theology of liberation. New York: Lippincott.
16.
Coser L. A.
(1956). The functions of social conflict. New York: Free Press.
17.
Cross, W. E., Jr.
, & Strauss, L. (1998). The everyday functions of African American identity. In J. K. Swim & C. Stangor (Eds.). Prejudice: The target’s perspective (pp. 267-279). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
18.
Cudeck, R.
(1989). Analysis of correlation matrices using covariance structure models. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 317-327.
19.
Danziger, S.
, & Gottschalk, P. (1995). Uneven tides: Rising inequality in America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
20.
Dates, J. L.
, & Barlow, W. (Eds.). (1993). Split image: African Americans in the mass media. 2nd ed.Washington, DC: Howard University Press.
21.
Du Bois, W.E.B.
(1964). The souls of Black folk. New York: Fawcett. (Original work published 1903)
22.
Ellison, C. G.
(1991). Identification and separatism: religious involvement and racial orientations among Black Americans. The Sociological Quarterly, 32, 477-494.
23.
Entman, R. M.
, & Rojecki, A. (2000). The Black image in the White mind: Media and race in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
24.
Farley, R.
, & Allen, W. R. (1987). The color line and the quality of life in America. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
25.
Finkenstaedt, R. L.
(1994). Face to face: Blacks in America: White perceptions and Black realities. New York: William Morrow.
26.
Fischer, C. S.
, Hout, M., Jankowski, M. S.Lucas, S. R., Swidler, A., & Voss, K. (1996). Inequality by design: Cracking the bell curve myth. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
27.
Gaines, S. O.
, & Reed, E. S. (1994). Two social psychologies of prejudice: Gordon W. Allport, W.E.B. DuBois and the legacy of Booker T. Washington. Journal of Black Psychology, 20,8-28.
28.
Gaines, S. O.
, & Reed, E. S. (1995). Prejudice: From Allport to DuBois. American Psychologist, 50, 96-103.
29.
Gould, S. J.
(1981). The mismeasure of man. New York: W.W. Norton.
30.
Gould, S. J.
(1995). Mismeasure by any measure. In R. Jacoby & N. Glauberman (Eds.), The bell curve debate: History, documents, opinions (pp. 3-13). New York: Times Books.
31.
Gurin, P.
, Hatchett, S. J., & Jackson, J. S. (1989). Hope and independence: Blacks’ response to electoral and party politics. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
32.
Herrnstein, R. J.
, & Murray, C. A. (1994). The bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in American life. New York: Free Press.
33.
Hilliard, A. G.
(1995). The maroon within us: Selected essays on African American community socialization. Baltimore, MD: Black Classic Press.
34.
Jackman, M.
, & Jackman, R. (1973). Class awareness in the United States. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
35.
Jackson, J. S.
(Ed.). (1991). Life in Black America. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
36.
Jackson, J. S.
, Tucker, M. B., & Bowman, P. J. (1982). Conceptual and methodological problems in survey research on Black Americans. In W. T. Liu (Ed.), Methodological problems in minority research. Pacific/Asian American Mental Health Research Center.
37.
Jaynes, G. D.
, & Williams, R. M., Jr. (Eds.) (1989). A common destiny: Blacks and American society. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
38.
Jöreskog, K. G.
, & Sörbom, D. (1993). LISREL 8 user’s guide. Chicago: SPSS.
39.
Kambon, K.K.K.
(1992). The African personality in America: An African-centered framework. Tallahassee, FL: Nubian Nation Publications.
40.
Karenga, M.
(1993). Introduction to Black Studies. Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press.
41.
Kerner Commission
. (1968). Report of the National Advisory Commission on civil disorders. New York: Bantam Books.
42.
Lewontin, R. C.
(1999). Biology as ideology. New York: Harper Perennial.
43.
Lewontin, R. C.
, Rose, S., & Kamin, L. J. (1993). I.Q.: The rank ordering of the world. In S. Harding (Ed.), The racial economy of science: Toward a democratic future (pp. 142-160). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
44.
Lipsitz, G.
(1998). The possessive investment in Whiteness: How White people profit from identity politics. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
45.
Markus, H. R.
, & Kitayama, S. (1994). A collective fear of the collective: Implications for selves and theories of selves. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 568-579.
46.
Marsh, H. W.
, Balla, J. R., & Hau, K. T. (1996). An evaluation of incremental fit indices: A clarification of mathematical and empirical properties. In G. A. Marcoulides & R. E. Schumacker (Eds.), Advanced structural equation modeling: Issues and techniques (pp. 315-353). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
47.
Morris, A. D.
, Hatchett, S. J., & Brown, R. E. (1989). The civil rights movement and Black political socialization. In R. S. Sigel (Ed.), Political learning in adulthood. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
48.
Myrdal, G.
(1949). An American dilemma. New York: Harper and Brothers.
49.
Nobles, W. W.
(1973). Psychological research and the black self-concept: A critical review. Journal of Social Issues, 29, 11-31.
50.
Nobles, W. W.
(1991). Extended self: Rethinking the so-called Negro self-respect. In R. L. Jones (Ed.), Black psychology (3rd ed., pp. 295-304). Berkeley, CA.: Cobb and Henry Publishers.
51.
Pitts, J. P.
(1974). The study of race consciousness: Comments on new directions. American Journal of Sociology, 80, 665-687.
52.
Riley, M. W.
(1976). Age strata in social systems. In R. H. Binstock & E. Shanas (Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
53.
Schuman, H.
, & Scott, J. (1989). Generations and collective memories. American Sociological Review, 54, 359-381.
54.
Schuman, H.
, Steeh, C., & Bobo, L. (1985). Racial attitudes in America: Trends and interpretations. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
55.
Smith, R. C.
(1995). Racism in the post-civil rights era. Albany: State University of New York.
56.
Steinberg, S.
(1995). Turning back: The retreat from racial justice in American thought and policy. Boston: Beacon Press.
57.
Tajfel, H.
(1981). Human groups and social categories. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
58.
Takaki, R.
(1982). Reflections on racial patterns in America: A historical perspective. Ethnicity and Public Policy, 1, 1-23.
59.
Ture, K.
, & Hamilton, C. V. (1992). Black Power: The politics of liberation in America (2nd ed.). New York: Vantage Books.
60.
West, C.
(1982). Prophesy deliverance!Philadelphia: Westminster Press.
61.
Wilson, W. J.
(1980). The declining significance of race (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
