If I Can Do For My People, I Can Do For Myself: Examining Racial Factors for Their Influence on Goal Efficacy For Black College Students

Using a sociocultural stress and coping approach, this study focuses on the antecedents of goal efficacy, or an individual’s appraisal that they can achieve their goals. Despite being in college, less than half of the participants demonstrated goal efficacy. Racial factors including racial cohesion, racial dissonance and race-related stress, along with the students’ reports of supports and barriers were assessed for their relation with goal efficacy for 242 Black college students. Racial cohesion and racial dissonance were positively and inversely related to goal efficacy, respectively. Racial factors also predicted the students’ specific goals and their support and barrier attributions.