Benefits of Allocentrism for the Subjective Well-Being of African Americans

This study examines the relationship between allocentrism and subjective well-being among African Americans and European Americans. In addition, for these groups we tested the relationship between idiocentrism and subjective well-being. Eighty-four African Americans and 122 European Americans completed measures of allocentrism, idiocentrism, self-esteem, extraversion, life satisfaction, and general positive affect. The results show that the relationship between allocentrism and subjective well-being is of greater magnitude for African Americans than for European Americans. Similarly, there is a tendency for idiocentrism to be more highly negatively related to subjective well-being for European Americans than for African Americans. The results are discussed in terms of Baldwin and Hopkins’s theory of African American and European American worldview.