Psychosocial Keys to African American Achievement? Examining the Relationship Between Achievement and Psychosocial Variables in High-Achieving African Americans

• In Event: 54.081 - Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: 54.081-9 - Motivational and Affective Issues With Gifted and Talented Students

Abstract

Grit, growth mindset, ethnic identity, other group orientation, and future orientation are five psychosocial variables that have been shown to predict academic achievement. In this study of 105 high achieving African American students (GPA >3.0), how much these five variables contributed to their academic achievement was explored. The overall contribution of these psychosocial variables to academic achievement is compared to how much demographic variables contribute to academic achievement. Results indicated that all five psychosocial variables do not contribute to the academic achievement of high achieving African Americans. SES correlated significantly with academic achievement and explained a sizable portion of academic achievement variance. These findings indicate that demographics may be more important for the achievement of African American students.

Authors

• Cyrell Roberson, University of California - Berkeley

• Dante D. Dixson, Wayne State University

• Frank C. Worrell, University of California - Berkeley