We examined the relationship between two types of self-esteem (global self-esteem and collective self-esteem) and Black racial identity based on the expanded nigrescence theory (NT-E). Black college students ( N = 344) responded to the Cross Racial Identity Scale and measures of global and collective self-esteem. To provide a more nuanced assessment of Black racial identity using a person-centered approach, cluster analysis identified six racial cluster patterns. Using a variable-centered approach via 1-way ANOVA, individuals grouped in the self-hating cluster were found to have lower global self-esteem scores than those grouped under other racial attitude clusters. For collective self-esteem, MANOVA and descriptive discriminant analyses showed individuals in the assimilated cluster had lower scores on the salience of race compared to those grouped in other racial attitude clusters. These findings replicated the relationship between nigrescence and global self-esteem and extended the relationship between nigrescence and collective self-esteem. Using both person- and variable-centered approaches highlights the complexity of understanding and interpreting racial identity in relation to other real-world variables, such as psychological functioning.
Ryan et al. (Mon,) studied this question.