THE UTILITY OF EXPECTANCY VALUE AND DISIDENTIFICATION MODELS FOR UNDERSTANDING ETHNIC-GROUP DIFFERENCES IN ACADEMIC-PERFORMANCE AND SELF-ESTEEM/

Major concerns have been raised in the United States of America about the underachievement of students from several ethnic minority populati ons. We present findings from two longitudinal studies of adolescent d evelopment that relate directly to two different motivational perspect ives on the underachievement of African-American adolescents: One base d on expectancy/value models, and one based on disidentification model s. In both studies, the African-American's students' academic ability self-concepts and academic performance were not as highly linked to ei ther their academic achievement or their self-esteem as those of Europ ean-American students. These differences, according to disidentificati on theories, result from the tendency of individuals to disassociate t heir self-esteem from performance indicators in domains in which they face discrimination and negative ability stereotypes in order to prote ct their self-esteem. As a result, they are protected from negative, d iscriminatory experiences. However, disidentification also lowers the potential psychological benefits they can obtain from succeeding these domains. This theory could prove useful in understanding the underach ievement of disadvantaged and stigmatized ethnic minorities in other c ultures.