A PSYCHOMETRIC EXAMINATION OF THE AFRICENTRIC SCALE Challenges in Measuring Afrocentric Values

The articulation of an African-centered paradigm has increasingly become an important component of the social science research published on people of African descent. Although several instruments exist that operationalize different aspects of an Afrocentric philosophical paradigm, only one instrument, the Africentric Scale, explicitly operationalizes Afrocentric values using what is arguably the most commercial and accessible understanding of Afrocentricity, the seven principles of the Nguzu Saba. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Africentric Scale with a sample of 167 African American students. Results of a factor analysis revealed that the Africentric Scale is best conceptualized as measuring a general dimension of Afrocentrism rather than seven separate principles. The findings suggest that with continued research, the Africentric Scale will be an increasingly viable option among the handful of measures designed to assess some aspect of Afrocentric values, behavioral norms, and an African worldview.