Content area
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the methodology and psychometric aspects of a measure of White Racial consciousness (WRC) and secondarily, to examine the relationship of WRC to attitudes toward women, people who are deaf, and gay men and lesbians. In further examining this relationship, comparisons were made between (a) the relationship of WRC to attitudes toward discernible groups (women) and (b) the relationship of WRC to attitudes toward less-discernible groups (deaf people, gay men and lesbians). Additional analyses examined the intercorrelation among attitudes for people of color, specifically for African Americans and Asian Americans.
White students completed the Oklahoma Racial Attitudes Scale-Preliminary version (ORAS-P; Choney & Behrens, 1996), the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (ATWS; Spence & Helmreich, 1978), the Opinions about Deaf People Scale (ODP; Berkay, Gardner, & Smith, 1993), and the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men scale (ATLGM; Herek, 1988). Students of color completed the ATWS, the ODP, and the ATLGM scales. In both the White and students of color groups, only the responses of undergraduate, hearing, heterosexual students were included in the analyses.
Results showed that various WRC statuses predicted White student attitudes toward specific groups. The predictive capacity of WRC statuses varied by the gender of the participant and by the attitudinal target. In addition, WRC was found to have less predictive utility for women than for men. No distinctions were apparent by the discernability of the attitudinal target.
Intercorrelations among attitudes for students of color, African Americans and Asian Americans found significant correlations among various attitudes. Attitudes toward gay men and attitudes toward lesbians were significantly correlated across groups as were (a) attitudes toward women and attitudes toward gay men and (b) attitudes toward women and attitudes toward lesbians.
Suggestions were offered for the refinement of WRC methodology and theory. Possible applications for higher education were also included.
