ERIC Number: ED236472
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1983-Mar
Pages: 22
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Group and Self Identity: Rethinking an Unresolved Phenomenon.
Clark, Maxine L.; Pearson, Willie, Jr.
Previous research by W. Cross (1980) concluded that blacks have a multifaceted reference group orientation which utilizes both black and white anchor points dependent upon situational cues. To further delineate the relationship between the group and self identity and to determine if the relationship between these constructs differs for black male and female college students, 51 black (19 males, 32 females) college students completed the Katz and Braly Scale (rating the degree of favorability of 84 adjectives usually used to describe people, and selecting 5 which were most descriptive of themselves, black Americans, white Americans, and women and men); and the Tennessee Self Concept Test, a multidimensional measure yielding an overall self-concept score and 9 others: identity, acceptance, behavior and attitudes about one's physical, moral, personal, familial and social self, and self-criticism. An analysis of the results showed no relationship between the total self-concept score and the ratings of black and white Americans for either males or females. Group and self identity were unrelated for this sample of middle class, black college students. Females' ratings of males were positively correlated with self-concept and were a significant predictor of their total self-concept. Males' ratings of men were not correlated with self-concept. Future research will need to vary social class, age, geographic region, degree of interracial contact, and other social variables to adequatley assess for whom and under what circumstances group identity influences personal identity. (BL)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Researchers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Tennessee Self Concept Scale
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A