Multiple Identities as Predictors of Academic Motivation for Black College Students

• In Event: Asset-Based Approaches to Centering Race, Ethnicity, and Culture in Motivation Research

Abstract

Motivation is one of the chief psychological predictors of academic performance, and students’ identities have been found to play a major role in their inclination to pursue educational success. However, the research landscape is sparse as it relates to how multiple identities work together to predict one’s academic motivation and other related outcomes. This study explored the extent to which the relationship between Black college students’ perceptions of academic identity and academic motivation were moderated their perceptions of their cultural identity. Findings indicate a moderating relationship of cultural identity between academic identity and motivation such that cultural identity protects the motivation of those who have low academic identity. Implications for the importance of cultural responsiveness in education settings are discussed.

Authors

• R. Davis Dixon, Howard University

• Candice Wallace, Central Connecticut State University