identities within an individual’s self-concept interact and affect his or her experiences. Too often racial identity is studied within a vacuum. Racial identity is likely to interact with other identities within the self- concept in such a way as to change its meaning for the person. For instance, it is quite possible that African American women’s racial ideology may vary according to the ideologies associated with their gender identity.
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There may even be gender differences in racial ideology as a result of differences in the meaning of gender for African American men and women. These are testable research questions within the framework of the MMRI.
Another contribution of the MMRI is in the way it addresses what constitutes the optimal racial identity. The underground perspective has argued that the indi- vidual’s perceptions with regard to the meaning of being African American are a function of both the person’s unique culture and his or her experiences as a member of an oppressed group (e.g., Akbar, 1984; Cross, 1991; Kambon, 1992; Milliones, 1980; Nobles, 1991). As a result, underground models have tended to employ methodologies that are sensitive to the individ- ual differences in African American identity. How- ever, in describing the diversity of the meaning of being African American, most theorists and re- searchers have attempted to define what constitutes the optimum African American racial identity. Unfortu- nately, many of these definitions of the optimum iden- tity are based on untested and/or untestable assump- tions and criteria (Sellers, 1993). In some instances, the criteria used to determine the optimum identity are so confounded with the measures of identity themselves that the model itself becomes hopelessly unfalsifiable (e.g., Kambon, 1992).
In our conceptualization of racial identity, we do not propose any hierarchy with respect to the inherent value of any particular ideology. Any evaluation of the func- tionality of a particular ideology differs according to which criterion is used to define functionality. For example, a person who values the survival of African American culture as a unique and separate way of life may be more likely to see a nationalist ideology as being optimal. On the other hand, a person who values the acceptance of African Americans by the broader American society may view an assimilationist ideology as being optimal. Even if consensus existed on a crite- rion (such as psychological well-being) to be used to determine an optimal ideology, it is likely that such a definition would have to be environmentally specific. Different environments are likely to be more hospitable for different racial ideologies which may, in turn, con- tribute to different levels of well-being. For instance, a nationalist ideology is probably more likely to be asso- ciated with positive well-being in an all-African Ameri- can environment than in an all-White environment. In any event, our conceptualization of ideology allows researchers to test such a hypothesis.
The MMRI also has the potential to contribute to the extensive literature on stereotyping. It has been noted that the stereotype literature has tended to focus on those who hold stereotypes with relatively little atten- tion being paid to the effects of such stereotypes on the stigmatized group (Devine, Evett, & Vasquez-Suson, 1996). Recently, Steele and his colleagues have pro- posed a model of stereotype threat which suggests that members of a stigmatized group are vulnerable to per- formance deficits in tasks for which their group is stereotyped as being inferior (Steele, 1997; Steele & Aronson, 1995). Steele and Aronson (1995) have re- ported evidence that African American college students performed poorer on a reading comprehension task when their race was made salient to them. They suggest that it does not matter whether the person believes the stereotype; what is important is that the person knows that the stereotype exists. In their description of stereo- type threat, Steele and Aronson do not discuss whether all African Americans would be susceptible or what factors might lead to individual differences to vulner- ability to the effect. The MMRI suggests that the mean- ing and significance that the individual places on race may moderate the stereotype threat effect. In particular, individuals who are more race central may need fewer race cues in the environment for race to become more salient during a particular task. As a result, they may be more susceptible to such an effect. However, this effect may also be moderated by the extent to which the individual believes that other groups hold those nega- tive stereotypes about the group (public regard). A person who does not believe that others hold such stereotypes may be less vulnerable to the effect. Finally, it is still an open question as to whether a person’s own beliefs about whether African Americans are less capa- ble on a task will influence the stereotype threat effect. In sum, the MMRI has the potential to further explicate person characteristics which may result in greater dif- ferentiation in the impact of stereotype threat on the performance of African Americans.
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The post identities within an individual’s self-concept interact and affect his or her experiences. Too often racial identity is studied within a vacuum. Racial identity is likely to interact with other identities within the self- concept in such a way as to change its meaning for the person. For instance, it is quite possible that African American women’s racial ideology may vary according to the ideologies associated with their gender identity. appeared first on My Nursing Papers.
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