Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity: A Reconceptualization of African American Racial Identity

Abstract

Research on African American racial identity has utilized 2 distinct approaches. The mainstream approach has focused on universal properties associated with ethnic and racial identities. In contrast, the underground approach has focused on documenting the qualitative meaning of being African American, with an emphasis on the unique cultural and historical experiences of African Americans. The Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity (MMRI) represents a synthesis of the strengths of these two approaches. The underlying assumptions associated with the model are explored. The model proposes 4 dimensions of African American racial identity: salience, centrality, regard, and ideology. A description of these dimensions is provided along with a discussion of how they interact to influence behavior at the level of the event. We argue that the MMRI has the potential to make contributions to traditional research objectives of both approaches, as well as to provide the impetus to explore new questions.

Racial Discrimination and Racial Identity as Risk or Protective Factors for Violent Behaviors in African American Young Adults

“…A number of researchers have argued that the concept of racial identity is a multidimensional construct (Gonzales & Cauce, 1995;Phinney, 1992;Romero & Roberts, 1998;Rotheram-Borus, Lightfoot, Moraes, Dopkins, & LaCour, 1998;Sanders-Thompson, 1994;Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley, & Chavous, 1998;Smith, Walker, Fields, Brookins, & Seay, 1999;Stevenson, 1994). This reconceptualization suggests that different racial identity attitudes may relate to violent behavior in different ways.…”

“…These findings suggest that identifying with their ethnic group may provide African American youth with protections against engaging in violent behaviors. These studies, however, included relatively small African American samples, focused on males, examined attitudes and not behavior, considered only main effects, or included unidimensional measures of racial identity.A number of researchers have argued that the concept of racial identity is a multidimensional construct (Gonzales & Cauce, 1995;Phinney, 1992;Romero & Roberts, 1998;Rotheram-Borus, Lightfoot, Moraes, Dopkins, & LaCour, 1998;Sanders-Thompson, 1994;Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley, & Chavous, 1998;Smith, Walker, Fields, Brookins, & Seay, 1999;Stevenson, 1994). This reconceptualization suggests that different racial identity attitudes may relate to violent behavior in different ways.…”

“…This reconceptualization suggests that different racial identity attitudes may relate to violent behavior in different ways. Sellers et al (1997Sellers et al ( , 1998) offer a conceptual framework that focuses on both the significance that African Americans attribute to being Black and how they define what it means to be Black. Three components of this framework are particularly relevant when examining the relationship between racial identity and violent behavior in African American youth.…”

Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) Expansion: Measuring Racial, Religious, and National Aspects of Sense of Ethnic Identity Within the United Kingdom

“…In the wake of theoretical and empirical refinements that have occurred since the RIAS-B was published (Cokley, 2007), we recommend the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI; Sellers et al, 1997) and/or the Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS; Vandiver et al, 2000), both of which were guided by the view that Black Americans' experiences with stigmatization, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination make their racial identity development unique within the United States (see Sellers et al, 1998;Worrell et al, 2001). Given that the CRIS already has been used in tandem with the 14-item MEIM (Phinney, 1992) within the United States (Worrell & Gardner-Kitt, 2006) and in tandem with the MIBI within the United States (Vandiver et al, 2002), we believe that the next logical step for researchers would be to administer the CRIS and/or MIBI together with our measure of racial identity outside as well as within the United States.…”

Fostering Global Citizenship

“…(Appiah, 2006, p. xv) Scholars and practitioners in many fields are presently inquiring what it means to conceptualize all human beings as connected by their membership in a shared cosmos. Cosmopolitanism is a "humanist" ideology of identity politics, concerned with the cultivation of "global citizens" who celebrate difference but give preeminence to their transcendent ethic of conversation as a universal value (Sellers et al, 1998). Its narrative leads away from a categorical approach to culture (Gjerde, 2004), and challenges the stability of a received taxonomy of identity (Hollinger, 2006).…”