The authors examined who 679 African American ninth-graders from urban environments look up to and how their role model choices relate to substance use, delinquency, academic engagement, and psychological well-being. Male adolescents without male role models and females identifying brothers as role models reported the most problem behavior. Adolescents with paternal male role models had the most positive school outcomes, no differences were found in psychological well-being among adolescents in terms of their male role models. The presence of female role models, in contrast, was associated with psychological well-being such that adolescents with maternal role models reported the least distress. Adolescents without female role models had the lowest grades and most negative school attitudes. These findings remained when parental support, family conflict, and father presence in the household were controlled, suggesting role model effects are separate from parenting effects. Our findings support and expand on the notion that having someone to look up to is critical for African American youths’ development.
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