An examination of the relationship between achievement values and perceptions of barriers among low-SES African American and Latino students.

Peer nomination procedures were used to explore the development of academic achievement values and their relation to perceptions of barriers to opportunity. A total of 615 boys and girls across 3 grade levels (2nd, 4th, 7th) and 2 ethnic groups (African American, Latino) nominated peers who they admired, respected, and wanted to be like. Nominations were summed to create a value index. Girls in both ethnic groups and across grade levels were more likely to nominate high- or average-achieving same-gender classmates as those who they admired, respected, and wanted to be like. Second- and 4th-grade boys in both ethnic groups reported a nomination pattern similar to that of girls. However, 7th-grade boys in both ethnic groups showed a relative preference for low-achieving same-gender classmates as valued. Perceptions of barriers were related to increasing valuing of low achievers among African American 7th-grade boys. Implications of the findings for understanding the motivational challenges of ethnic minority male adolescents are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)