Off-campus UNL users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your NU ID and password. When you are done browsing please remember to return to this page and log out.
Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
Construct validity and reliability of the White Racial Identity Attitude Scale (WRIAS)
Abstract
This study was designed to investigate the reliability and validity of the White Racial Identity Attitude Scale (WRIAS) developed by Helms and Carter (1990). The WRIAS purports to measure five stages of White Americans' racial identity development. Participants completed the "K" scale of the MMPI-2, the WRIAS, descriptors of the WRIAS stages (self-descriptors), and a demographic information form. The "K" scale of the MMPI-2 was used in this study as a measure of social desirability. Over 75% of the participants scored within the normal range on the "K" scale. Internal consistency reliability coefficients were obtained for the WRIAS subscales and ranged from.33 (Contact) to.76 (Disintegration). Overall, the reliability of the subscales of the WRIAS ranged from very low to moderate. Additionally, 77.4% of the participants were unclassifiable on any subscale of the WRIAS, when the critical difference between their first highest and second highest scores was used as the criterion for classification. A confirmatory factor analysis of the WRIAS was undertaken and could not be completed because the data failed the test of admissibility. An exploratory factor analysis of the WRIAS indicated that the scale measures five areas of White Americans' racial identity development: (a) Separatist and Superior Attitudes Towards Blacks, (b) Discomfort and Confusion When With Blacks, (c) Desire to Learn Differences Between Blacks and Whites. (d) Reverse Discrimination, and (e) Naivete or Obliviousness About Racial Heritage. The reliabilities of the revised five factor solution (coefficient alpha) were.82,.83,.67,.71, and.49 respectively. The reliabilities were minimally acceptable for factors 1-4, and weak for factor 5. Although, the WRIAS did not reflect the stages of White Americans' racial identity development, it can be reinterpreted in light of the revised five factor solution. Specifically, scores on the five factors correlated with the WRIAS self-descriptors in ways that were congruent with Helms' proposed theory.
Subject Area
Academic guidance counseling|Educational psychology|Educational evaluation|Social psychology
Recommended Citation
Alexander, Charlene Marcia, "Construct validity and reliability of the White Racial Identity Attitude Scale (WRIAS)" (1992). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9237652.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9237652