Cultural Mistrust, Self -Efficacy, and Outcome Expectations as Predictors of Academic and Psychosocial Adjustment for African -American College Students at Predominantly White Universities

Predictors of academic and psychosocial adjustment for African American students attending a predominantly White university were investigated in this study. Two-hundred and nine African American students attending a large, predominantly White, state university in the Midwest were surveyed. Cultural mistrust, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations were the predictor variables while academic adjustment, social adjustment, personal-emotional adjustment, and attachment to the university were the criterion variables. Cultural mistrust, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations were hypothesized to be significant predictors of the criterion variables. As part of this investigation, an instrument was developed to measure African American students' self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations. Confirmatory factor analyses yielded general support for the factor structure of this instrument. Regression analyses revealed that academic self-efficacy for interacting with Whites on campus was a significant predictor of all four criterion variables. Social expectations about other African American on campus was a small, but statistically significant predictor of academic adjustment and attachment to the university. For first year students in the sample, academic self-efficacy beliefs for interacting with Whites was the only significant predictor for all four criterion variables. It was also hypothesized that cultural mistrust would moderate the relationship between self-efficacy and the criterion variables, and between outcome expectations and the criterion variables. Some support for this hypothesis was found. Outcome expectations were hypothesized to moderate the relationship between self-efficacy and the criterion variables, and some support for this relationship was found. Implications of this study for the adjustment process of African American students attending a predominantly White university are offered.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Bell, Tyronn John

Contributors dc:contributor

• Terence J.G.Tracey

• Black Studies

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3086014

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/79718