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The authors investigated the psychometric properties of the Social Identities and Attitudes Scale developed by Picho and Brown, which captures an individual’s vulnerability to Stereotype Threat effects. Confirmatory factor analyses and group invariance tests conducted on a diverse sample of 516 college students revealed adequate reliability and validity.

The factor structure of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) was examined with a sample of 578 Black college students. A confirmatory factor analysis of the AMS was conducted. Results indicated that the hypothesized seven-factor model did not fit the data. Implications for future research with the AMS are discussed.

The authors examine the factor structure of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS; R. J. Vallerand, L. G. Pelletier, M. R. Blais, N. M. Briere, C. Senecal, & E. F. Vallieres, 1992) with a United States student population. There was some support for a 7-factor structure. Evidence of construct validity examining the relationship with academic self-concept and academic achievement is mixed. Ethnic and gender differences in motivation are discussed.

The authors tested the validity of scores on the Multidimensional Inventory of Black identity (MIBI; R. M. Sellers, S. A. Rowley, T. M. Chavous, J. N. Shelton, & M. A. Smith, 1997) using confirmatory factor analysis and correlations. Results show partial support for construct validity. An item analysis was performed to identify problematic items. Implications for racial identity research are discussed.

This study examined the construct validity of the Academic Motivation Scale. Specifically, subscale correlations were examined to assess whether support for a continuum of self-determination would be provided. The three types of Intrinsic Motivation were significantly and positively correlated with each other .67, .62, and .58, while the three types of Extrinsic Motivation were significantly and positively intercorrelated .50, .49, and .45. The former subscales, however, correlated higher with Introjected Regulation than Identified Regulation, suggesting that Introjected Regulation may be indicative of more self-determined behavior than has previously been believed. Also, the Intrinsic Motivation To Accomplish subscale had a stronger relationship with two of the Extrinsic Motivation subscales, Identified Regulation and Introjected Regulation, than did the Extrinsic Motivation subscales with each other. This suggests that the differences between Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation are not as obvious as has been believed. Also, contrary to self-determination theory, Amotivation had a stronger negative correlation with Identified Regulation (r= −.31) than with any of the Intrinsic Motivation subscales (rs= −.27, −.19, and –.11).

Violence as a construct is reviewed using an Africentric paradigm. Black male pathological models of violence are debunked while an alternative psychological and sociohistorical framework is presented. Nobles’s (1989) comparative world view schematic and Akbar’s (1989) conceptualization of Black/African identity are discussed while the definition of violence is broadened using Wilson’s (1991) analysis. Violence is thus explained as a vicious cycle that is a result of American values and social inequities.

Abstract: Violence as a construct is reviewed using an Africentric paradigm. Black male pathological models of violence are debunked while an alternative psychological and sociohistorical framework is presented. Nobles’s (1989) comparative world view schematic and Akbar’s (1989) conceptualization of Black/African identity are discussed while the definition of violence is broadened using Wilson’s (1991) analysis. Violence is thus explained as a vicious cycle that is a result of American values and social inequities.