Black Racial Identity and Psychosocial Competence: A Preliminary Study

This study investigated whether Black racial identity attitudes predict psychosocial competence as defined by Tyler's tridimensional model. In particular, two aspects of Tyler's model of psychosocial competence were examined: self-attitudes and behavioral attitudes. Participants in this study were 103 (65 females, 38 males) Black undergraduates who completed the Black Racial Identity Attitude Scale, the Behavioral Attributes of Psychosocial Competence Scale, and Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale. The study found gender differences in racial identity attitudes for the sample. However, multiple regression analyses found that Black racial identity attitudes are not associated with one's sense of psychosocial competence. Although the results were not significant, analyses of individual / weights within the regression equations suggested that the influence of racial identity attitudes on psychosocial competence may operate differently for men and women.