The role of Africentrism in student stress and social stigma consciousness in African American undergraduate males attending an HBCU

Abstract

African American males are disproportionately underrepresented in college in comparison to Whites, Asians, and their counterparts, African American females. Despite this, little research focuses on the college experiences of African American students, especially those attending an HBCU. Joseph and Chambers’ (2010) study evaluated the impact of Africentrism on perceived stress levels for African American students attending an HBCU. Results indicated significant gender differences that concluded that African American males endorsed higher levels of Africentrism, and that Africentrism impacted stress level for African American males. To further explore the results of Joseph and Chamber’s (2010) study, this study explored the impact of Africentrism on different types of stressors related to being a student (i.e. student stress). Furthermore, African Americans males are a demographic that encounters unique experiences of social stigmas that are be similar and different to African American females. These social pressures are likely to impact stress levels while in college. Therefore, the aims of this study are to (a) evaluate the relationship between Africentrism, social stigma, and student stress (i.e., interpersonal, intrapersonal, academic, and environmental stress), and (b) evaluate the role of Africentrism in the relationship between social stigma and student stress. Correlational and hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted. There were no significant correlations among the variables; however, correlations evaluating the interaction between Africentrism and social stigma revealed that overall student stress and academic stress were correlated to the Africentrism and social stigma combination. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis evaluating academic stress indicated a significant model. Follow up analysis revealed a disordinal interaction between Africentrism and social stigma. This demonstrated that when African American males have a low level of social stigma, Africentrism decreases academic stress. When African American males have a high level of social stigma, Africentrism increases academic stress. Implications for this study are further discussed.