This study examined an acculturation scale designed for use in the African American population. Consisting of 10 items presented in Likert-scale format, the scale asked about: race-related cultural and media preferences (music, radio, television); racial balance in contexts of social interaction (friends, church congregation, parties, neighborhoods); race-related attitudes (relying on relatives for help, desirability of interracial marriage); and degree of comfort in interaction with Whites versus Blacks. Responses were gathered from a national probability sample of more than 900 African Americans. The data generally indicated an African American orientation within the sample but demonstrated notable variation on all items. The scale showed good reliability (internal consistency). Results from factor analysis pointed toward unidimensional structure. Evaluation of construct validity by examining sociodemographic correlates provided notable evidence of validity.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Berry, J. W.
(1980). Social and cultural change. In H. C. Trindis & R. Brislin (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
2.
Burnam, M. A.
, Hough, R. L., Karno, M., Escobar, J. L., & Telles, C. A. (1987). Acculturation and lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders among Mexican Americans in Los Angeles. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 28, 89-102.
3.
Caetano, R.
(1987). Alcohol use and depression among U.S. Hispanics. British Journal of Addiction, 82, 1245-1251.
4.
Cuellar, I.
, Harris, I. C., Jasso, R. (1980). An acculturation scale for Mexican American normal and clinical populations. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Science, 2, 199-217.
5.
Deyo, R. A.
, Diehl, A. K., Hazuda, H., & Stren, M. P. (1985). A simple language based acculturation scale for Mexican Americans: Validation and application to health care research. American Journal of Public Health, 75(1), 55-65.
6.
Gordon, M. F.
(1964). Assimilation in American life. New York: Oxford University Press.
7.
Herd, D. (1989). The sociocultural correlates of drinking patterns in Black and White Americans: Results of a national study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, San Francisco.
8.
Heurtin-Roberts, S.
, Snowden, L. R., & Miller, L. (1997). Expressions of anxiety in African Americans: Ethnography and the epidemiological catchment area studies. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 21, 337-363.
9.
Hines, A. M.
, & Caetano, R. (in press). Alcohol and AIDS-related sexual behavior among Hispanics: Acculturation and gender differences. Journal of AIDS Education and Prevention.
10.
Hines, A. M.
, Snowden, L. R., & Graves, K. L. (1998). Acculturation, alcohol consumption and AIDS-related risky sexual behavior among African American women. Women and Health, 27, 17-35.
11.
Hoffman, T.
, Dana, R. H., & Bolton, B. (1985). Measured acculturation and MMPI-168 performance of Native American adults. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 16, 243-256.
12.
Landrine, H.
, & Klonoff, E. A. (1994). The African American Acculturation Scale: Development, reliability, and validity. Journal of Black Psychology, 20, 104-127.
13.
Masuda, M.
, Matsumoto, G. H., & Meredith, G. M. (1970). Ethnic identity in three generations of Japanese Americans. Journal of Social Psychology, 81, 199-207.
14.
Nobles, W. W.
(1985). Africanity and the Black family: The development of a theoretical model. Berkeley, CA: Institute for the Advanced Study of Black Family Life and Culture.
15.
Nobles, W. W.
(1986). African psychology: Towards its reclamation, reascension, and revitalization. Oakland, CA: Black Family Institute.
16.
Olmedo, E. L.
(1979). Acculturation: A psychometric perspective. American Psychologist, 34, 1061-1074.
17.
Olmedo, E. L
, Martinez, J. L., & Martinez, S. R. (1978). Measure of acculturation for Chicano adolescents. Psychological Reports, 52, 159-170.
18.
Padilla, A. M.
(1980). The role of cultural awareness and ethnic loyalty in acculturation. In A. M. Padilla (Ed.), Acculturation: Theory, models, and some new findings (pp. 47-84). Boulder, CO: Westview.
19.
Reckase, M. D.
(1990). Scaling techniques. In G. Goldstein & M. Hersen (Eds.), Handbook of psychological assessment. Elmsford, NY: Pergamon.
20.
Santos, R.
(1991). One approach to oversampling Blacks and Hispanics: The National Alcohol Survey. In W. B. Clark & M. E. Hilton (Eds.), Alcohol in America: Drinking practices and problems (pp. 324-244). Albany: State University of New York Press.
21.
Snowden, L. R.
, Libby, A., & Thomas, K. (1997). Health-care related attitudes and utilization among African American women. Women’s Health: Research on Gender, Behavior, and Policy, 3, 301-314.
22.
Suinn, R. M.
, Rickard-Figueroa, K., Lew, S., & Vigil, S. (1987). The Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 47, 401-407.
23.
Szapocznik, J.
, & Kurtines, W. (1980). Acculturation, biculturalism, and adjustment among Cuban Americans. In A. M. Padilla (Ed.), Acculturation: Theory, models, and some new findings (pp. 139-159). Boulder, CO: Westview.
24.
Wyatt, G. E.
(1991). Examining ethnicity versus race in AIDS related sex research. Social Science Medicine, 33(1), 37-45.
25.
Yao, E. L.
(1979). The assimilation of contemporary Chinese immigrants. Journal of Psychology, 101, 107-113.
26.
Yee, A. H.
, Fairchild, H. H., Weismann, F., & Wyatt, G. E. (1993). Addressing psychology problems with races. American Psychologist, 48, 1132-1140.
27.
Zuckerman, M.
(1990). Some dubious premises in research and theory on racial differences.American Psychologist, 45, 1297-1303.
