An Afrocultural Social Ethos: Component Orientations and Some Social Implications

Abstract

Two studies explored an Afrocultural social ethos: its component orientations of spirituality, affect, and communalism; and their connections with psychosocial functioning among inner-city African American youth in Grades 5 through 7. Positive endorsement and moderate positive correlations among the orientations were found in each study. In Study 1, an Afrocultural social ethos was predictive of more cooperative and more competitive academic attitudes and lower levels of a Machiavellian attitude. When orientations were examined, spirituality emerged as a positive predictor of two academic attitudes. In Study 2, an Afrocultural social ethos was predictive of empathy and a more altruistic view of human nature. At the level of orientations, affect was a unique predictor of these variables. Gender-not cultural ethos or orientations-was predictive of peer-ratedprosocial behaviors. Discussionfocuses on implicationsforfuture research on culture and the social development of African American youth.