Africentrism: Psychometric Analyses of a Self-Report Measure

Abstract

This article describes the development of a self-report measure of Africentrism, defined here as the degree to which a person adheres to the Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles) in African and African American culture. Beginning with a pool of 25 Likert-type items, the authors tested two alternate forms of their Africentrism measure in a series offour studies. The reliability (internal consistency) of the measure wasfoundto be well above a minimum criterionforthe purpose of group comparisons. Indicators of construct validity and known-groups validity were also favorable. The authors recommend a 15-item version of the measure for future testing and conclude with hypotheses regarding the importance of Africentrism in assessing African-centered interventions.