For several generations, the educational achievement gap of African Americans has continued to widen in the United States. The current study examined how racial identity influences the relationship between academic motivation and academic stress among African American college students. Participants for the study included 438 African American undergraduate and graduate students. A moderation analysis was utilized to examine the primary research question, which included racial identity as the moderator, academic stress as the predictor, and academic motivation as the dependent variable. Results from the correlational analysis found that racial identity was positively correlated to three dimensions of intrinsic academic motivation and one dimension of extrinsic academic motivation, but negatively correlated with amotivation. Also, academic stress was positively correlated to two dimensions of extrinsic academic motivation and amotivation, but negatively correlated with one dimension of intrinsic academic motivation. Based on the moderation analysis, high levels of racial identity moderated the significant negative relationship between academic stress and intrinsic motivation-experience stimulation. Next, both low and medium levels of racial identity moderated a significant positive relationship between academic stress and extrinsic motivation-external regulation. Last, all levels of racial identity moderated the significant positive relationship between academic stress and amotivation. These findings suggest that different levels of racial identity development influence the relationship between academic stress and dimensions of academic motivation for African American students. Results from this study contribute to existing research on the achievement gap experienced by African American students. Clinical implications, social change implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]