The Development and Validation of an Instrument to Assess an Optimal Afrocentric World View

Abstract

An optimal Afrocentric belief system is characterized by a holistic, nonmaterialistic, and communal orientation in persons. An instrument to assess one's degree of adherence to an abstraction of this world view, the Belief Systems Analysis Scale (BSAS), was developed and psychometrically evaluated. To assess the instrument's construct validity, college students (66 females and 29 males) were administered the BSAS, the Dogmatism Scale, the Social Interest Scale, and the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised. The BSAS correlated significantly (p < .001) in the expected direction with all three of the criterion variables. Further analyses indicated that the BSAS is internally consistent (Cronbach's Alpha = .80) and multifactorial. The test-retest reliability coefficent (n = 41, one week apart) was r = .63. It is tentatively concluded that the BSAS has potential as a valid and reliable measure of an optimal Afrocentric world view and may be useful both as a research and clinical instrument.

A Review of the Racial Identity Development of African American Adolescents: The Role of Education

“…Interpersonal valuing (Montgomery,ine,& 2. Deemphasis on appearance FJames- Myers, 1990) 3. Integration of opposites 4.…”

“…These instruments attempt to differentiate Afrocentric cultural values from European cultural values. Such instruments include the Black Personality Questionnaire (Williams, 1981), the African Self-Consciousness Scale (Baldwin & Bell, 1985), and the Belief Systems Analysis Scale (Montgomery, Fine, & James-Myers, 1990).…”

The Asante-Based Afrocentricity Scale: Developing a Scale to Measure Asante's Afrocentricity Paradigm

“…Despite these concerns, many of the items may have criterion validity to aspects of Asante's paradigm. Montgomery, Fine, and James-Myers (1990) developed the Belief Systems Analysis Scale (BSAS) based on Linda James-Meyer's philosophy ''of an optimal world view originating from ancient traditional African cultures : : : (p. 38).''…”

Counseling Preferences of African American Women

“…Using multiple measures to assess the multidimensional aspect of racial identity as well as other constructs could further expand the findings of the current research. Instruments that measure constructs such as clients' adoption of African-centered values and beliefs (Montgomery, Fine, & Myers, 1990), cultural mistrust (Thompson, Worthington, & Atkinson, 1994;Watkins, Terrell, Miller, & Terrell, 1989), acculturation (Lee, 1997;Locke, 1992), and racial stereotypes and adoption of Black consciousness (Burlew & Smith, 1991) would augment these findings.…”