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The Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity (MMRI) is a conceptual framework designed to articulate the heterogeneity in the significance that African Americans place on race in defining themselves as well as in their definitions of what it means to be Black (Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley, & Chavous, 1998). The MMRI is comprised of four related dimensions: salience, centrality, ideology and regard. Racial salience refers to the extent to which race is relevant to the self-concept at a particular point in time or in a particular situation. Racial centrality refers to the extent to which an individual normatively defines her/his racial group membership. Racial ideology, refers to individuals' attitudes and beliefs about theways in which African Americans should act. Four ideological themes have been identified-- nationalist, oppressed minority, assimilationist, and humanist. The final dimension, racial regard refers to individuals' affective attitudes towards African Americans. It is divided into two components--public regard and private regard. Public regard refers to the extent to which an individual feels the African American community is viewed positively or negatively by others. Private regard refers to the extent to which an individual feels positively or negatively toward the African American community as well as how she/he feels about being a member of this community.

MIBI Scales

Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI) measures the three stable dimensions of the MMRI (Sellers et al., 1997). As such, it is comprised of three scales (Centrality, Regard, and Ideology). Participants are asked to respond regarding the extent to which they agree with the items using a 7-point Likert scale. The Centrality scale (alpha = .77) consists of 8 items measuring the extent to which being African American is central to the respondents' definition of themselves. The 36-item Ideology scale consists of four subscales (9 items each) that measure attitudes about the way Blacks should act. The four subscales include an Assimilation (alpha = .73), a Nationalist (alpha = .79), a Humanist (alpha = .70), and a Minority (alpha = .76) subscale. The revised Regard scale consists of two 6-item subscales-- Public Regard (alpha = .78) and Private Regard (alpha = .78).

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