This article conceptualizes Black students' adaptation to a predominantly White institution in terms of a model of acculturation that includes one orientation toward maintaining the cultural heritage and identity of one's own group and a second one tapping relations with the majority group. This approach acknowledges that acculturation need not entail exchanging one's cultural heritage for a new one. The present research developed an instrument to measure these orientations. In Study 1, factor analysis of responses from Black students (N = 216) revealed two factors: Culture, Heritage, and Identity (CHI) and Out-Group Comfort (OC). Study 2 (n = 83), found that CHI was positively associated with measures of Black identity and collective self-esteem and that OC was associated with intergroup anxiety. In Study 3 (n = 143), CHI was independently associated with viewing education as affording opportunities for success and recognizing that discrimination might temper those opportunities. Both aspects of acculturation were related in predicted ways with the Racelessness Scale. Implications of the results for Black college students' adjustment are discussed.
Anderson, L.P. (1991). Acculturative stress: A theory of relevance to Black Americans. Clinical Psychology Review, 11, 685-702.
2.
Arroyo, C., & Zigler, E. (1995). Racial identity, academic achievement, and the psychological well-being of economically disadvantaged adolescents. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 903-914.
3.
Berry, J. (2005). Acculturation: Living successfully in two cultures . International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29, 697-712.
4.
Bonilla-Silva, E., Lewis, A., & Embrick, D. (2004). “I did not get that job because of a Black man . . . ”: The story lines and testimonies of color-blind racism. Sociological Forum, 19, 555-581.
5.
Bowen, W.G., & Bok, D.C. (1998). The shape of the river: Long-term consequences of considering race in college and university admissions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
6.
Branscombe, N., Schmitt, M., & Harvey, R. (1999). Perceiving pervasive discrimination among African Americans: Implications for group identification and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 135-149.
7.
Brown, E.B. (1994). Negotiating and transforming the public sphere: African American political life in the transition from slavery to freedom . Public Culture, 7, 107-146.
8.
Cattell, R. (1966). The meaning and strategic use of factor analysis . In R. B. Cattell (Ed.), Handbook of multivariate experimental psychology (pp. 174-243). Chicago: Rand McNally.
9.
Chavous, T.M., Harris, A., Rivas, D., Helaire, L., & Green, L. (2004). Racial stereotypes and gender in context: African Americans at predominantly Black and predominantly White colleges. Sex Roles, 51, 1-16.
10.
Clark, M., Kaufman, S., & Pierce, R.C. (1976). Explorations of acculturation: Toward a model of ethnic identity. Human Organization, 35, 231-238.
11.
Cokley, K.O. (2001). Gender differences among African American students in the impact of racial identity on academic psychosocial development. Journal of College Student Development, 42, 480-487.
12.
Cole, E.R., & Omari, S.R. (2003). Race, class, and the dilemmas of upward mobility for African Americans. Journal of Social Issues, 59, 785-802.
13.
Cole, E.R., & Stewart, A.J. (1996). Meanings of political participation among Black and White women: Political identity and social responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 130-140.
14.
Cole, E.R., & Yip, T.Y. (in press). Using outgroup comfort to predict Black students' college experiences. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic MinorityPsychology .
15.
Collins, P.H. (2004). Black sexual politics. New York: Routledge.
16.
Crocker, J., & Major, B. (1989). Social stigma and self-esteem: The self-protective properties of stigma. Psychological Review,96, 608-630.
17.
Cross, W.E. (1971). The Negro-to-Black conversion experience. Black World, 20(9), 13-27.
18.
DeVellis, R.F. (2003). Scale development: Theory and applications (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
19.
Essed, P. (1990). Everyday racism: Reports from women of two cultures . Alameda, CA: Hunter House.
20.
Feagin, J.R. (1991). The continuing significance of race: Anti-Black discrimination in public places. American Sociological Review , 56, 101-116.
21.
Fordham, S., & Ogbu, J. (1986). Black students' school success: Coping with the “burden of acting White.”Urban Review,18, 176-206.
22.
Gurin, P., Dey, E.L., Hurtado, S., & Gurin, G. (2002). Diversity and higher education: Theory and impact on educational outcomes. Harvard Educational Review, 72, 330-366.
23.
Gurin, P., Miller, A., & Gurin, G. (1980). Stratum identification and consciousness. Social Psychology Quarterly, 43, 30-47.
24.
Gurin, P., Nagda, B.A., & Lopez, G.E. (2004). The benefits of diversity in education for democratic citizenship. Journal of Social Issues, 60, 7-34.
25.
Gurin, P., & Townsend, A. (1986). Properties of gender identity and their implications for gender consciousness. British Journal of Social Psychology , 25, 139-148.
Harding, V. (1991). Community as a liberating theme in civil rights history. In A. L. Robinson & P. Sullivan (Eds.), New directions in civil rights studies (pp. 17-29). Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
28.
Helms, J.E. (1990). Black and White racial identity. Westport, CT: Praeger.
29.
Helms, J.E. & Talleyrand, R. (1997). Race is not ethnicity. American Psychologist, 52, 1246-1247.
30.
Horvat, E., & Lewis, K. (2003). Reassessing the “burden of `acting White'”: The importance of peer groups in managing academic success. Sociology of Education, 7, 265-280.
31.
Hutnik, N. (1986). Patterns of ethnic minority identification and modes of social adaptation. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 9, 150-167.
32.
Joiner, T.E., & Walker, R.L. (2002). Construct validity of a measure of acculturative stress in African Americans. Psychological Assessment, 14, 462-466.
33.
Kaiser, C.R., & Miller, C.T. (2001). Reacting to impending discrimination: Compensation for prejudice and attributions to discrimination. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1357-1367.
34.
Kleinbaum, D.G., Kupper, L.L., & Muller, K.E. (1988). Applied regression analysis and other multivariable methods (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA : Duxbury Press.
35.
Landrine, H., & Klonoff, E. (1994). The African American Acculturation Scale: Development, reliability, and validity. Journal of Black Psychology, 20, 104-127.
36.
Landrine, H., & Klonoff, E. (1995). The African American Acculturation Scale II: Cross-validation and short form. Journal of Black Psychology, 21, 124-152.
37.
Landrine, H., & Klonoff, E.A. (1996). African American acculturation: Deconstructing race and reviving culture. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
38.
Levin, S., van Laar, C., & Sidanius, J. (2003). The effects of ingroup and outgroup friendships on ethnic attitudes in college: A longitudinal study. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations,6, 76-92.
39.
Lord, C.G., & Saenz, D.S. (1985). Memory deficits and memory surfeits: Differential cognitive consequences of tokenism for tokens and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 918-926.
40.
Luhtanen, R., & Crocker, J. (1992). A collective self-esteem scale: Self-evaluation of one's social identity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 302-318.
41.
Mack, D., Tucker, T., Archuleta, R., DeGroot, G., Hernandez, A., & Oh Cha, S. (1997). Interethnic relations on campus: Can't we all get along?Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development , 25, 256-268.
42.
Majors, R., & Billson, J.M. (1992). Cool pose: The dilemmas of Black manhood in America . New York: Simon & Schuster .
43.
Massey, D.S. (2001). Residential segregation and neighborhood conditions in US metropolitan areas. In N. J. Smelser & F. Mitchell (Eds.), America becoming: Racial trends and their consequences (Vol. 1, pp. 391-434). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
44.
Mickelson, R.A. (1990). The attitude—achievement paradox among Black adolescents. Sociology of Education, 63, 44-61.
45.
Morf, M.E., & Jackson, D.N. (1972). An analysis of two response styles: True responding item endorsement. Educational and Psychological Measurement , 32, 329-353.
46.
Parham, T.A., & Helms, J.E. (1981). The influence of Black students' racial identity attitudes on preferences for counselor's race. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 28, 250-257.
47.
Paulhus, D.L. (1991). Measurement and control of response bias. In J. P. Robinson, P. R. Shaver, & L. S. Wrightsman (Eds.), Measures of personality and social psychological attitudes (pp. 17-59). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
48.
Phinney, J.S. (1989). Stages of ethnic identity development in minority group adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 9, 34-49.
49.
Phinney, J.S. (1996). When we talk about American ethnic groups, what do we mean?American Psychologist, 51, 918-927.
50.
Pillay, Y. (2005). Racial identity as a predictor of the psychological health of African American students at a predominantly White university. Journal of Black Psychology, 31, 46-66.
51.
Ponterotto, J.G., & Wise, S.L. (1987). Construct validity study of the Racial Identity Attitude Scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 34, 218-223.
52.
Rollock, D., & Vrana, S.R. (2005). Ethnic social comfort I: Construct validity through social distance measurement. Journal of Black Psychology, 31, 386-417.
53.
Sam, D. ( 2006). Acculturation: Conceptual background and core components . In D. L. Sam & J. W. Berry (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of acculturation psychology (pp. 11-26). New York: Cambridge University Press.
54.
Sánchez, J., & Fernández, D. (1993). Acculturative stress among Hispanics: A bi-dimensional model of ethnic identification. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 23, 654-668.
55.
Sellers, R.M., Rowley, S.A.J., 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.
56.
Sellers, R., & Shelton, J.N. (2003). The role of racial identity in perceived racial discrimination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 84, 1079-1092.
57.
Sellers, R.M., Smith, M.A., Shelton, J.N., Rowley, S.A.J., & Chavous, T.M. (1998). Multidimensional model of racial identity: A reconceptualization of African American racial identity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2, 18-39.
58.
Smith, S., & Moore, M. (2000). Intraracial diversity and relations among African-Americans: Closeness among Black students at a predominantly White university. American Journal of Sociology, 106, 1-39.
59.
Snowden, L., & Hines, A. (1999). A scale to assess African American acculturation . Journal of Black Psychology, 25, 36-47.
60.
Solorzano, D. (2000). Critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate: The experiences of African American college students . Journal of Negro Education, 69, 60-73.
61.
Steele, C.M., & Aronson, J. (1996). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 69, 797-811.
62.
Stephan, W.G., & Stephan, C.W. (1985). Intergroup anxiety. Journal of Social Issues, 41(3), 157-175.
63.
Thompson, C.P., Anderson, L.P., & Bakeman, R.A. (2000). Effects of racial socialization and racial identity on acculturative stress in African American college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology,6, 196-210.
64.
Tyson, K., Darity, W., & Castellino, D. (2005). It's not “a Black thing”: Understanding the burden of acting White and other dilemmas of high achievement. American Sociological Review, 70, 582-605.
65.
Williams-Flournoy, D.F., & Anderson, L. P. (1996). The acculturative stress scale: Preliminary findings. In R. L. Jones (Ed.), Handbook of tests and measurements for Black populations (Vol. 2, pp. 351-358). Hampton, VA: Cobb & Henry.
66.
Zak, I. ( 1973). Dimensions of Jewish-American identity. Psychological Reports, 33, 891-900.
