This study examined the influence of culture on students' perceptions of academic success. Students read scenarios depicting hypothetical classmates achieving success through the cultural themes of individualism, competition, communalism, or verve. Students reported their social endorsement for the hypothetical classmates. A 2x4 repeated measures analysis, examining the effects of cultural group and cultural theme on students' endorsement, revealed an interaction between the two variables. African American students were significantly more accepting of communal and vervistic high-achieving peers than European American students. European American students endorsed individualistic and competitive high achievers significantly more than African American students. These and other findings suggest that the value students attach to academic success should not be understood in the absence of cultural considerations.

In recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in expressions of cultural integrity among African Americans. Many more recent efforts have argued that such expressions of integrity are rooted in an African cultural legacy and that these Afrocultural expressions continue to help shape the contours and textures of the African American experience (e.g., Boykin, 1983Boykin, , 1986Nobles, 1991;Stuckey, 1987;Thompson, 1983). Among expressions thought to be embodied in this cultural legacy are the following: spirituality, which suggests a focus on the vitalistic, shared essence of all things; the oral tradition, which places a premium on the spoken word; rhythmic-movement expressiveness; and communalism, which highlights the social interdependence of people (e.g., Downloaded from Problem Behaviors: Further Evidence&dquo; m the Journal of Adolescence (1996). Constance M. Ellison is an associate professor of human development and psychoeducational studies in the School of Education at Howard University. Her areas of research interest are cognition, learning, and cultural diversity, with a special emphasis on metacognition and cultural learning orientations among preschool-and elementary school-age children. She has coauthored a paper titled &dquo;Comparing

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