The Scale of Ethnic Experience: Development and Psychometric Properties

• Published in: Journal of personality assessment Vol. 86; no. 2; pp. 150 - 161
• Main Authors: Malcarne, Vanessa L., Chavira, Denise A., Fernandez, Senaida, Liu, Pei-Ju
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc 01.04.2006; Taylor & Francis; Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Biological and medical sciences; California; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive selfrepresentation; Discrimination; Ethnic aspects; Ethnic Groups - psychology; Ethnic identity; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Minority & ethnic groups; Personality. Affectivity; Psychological tests; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychometrics; Psychometrics. Sociometry; Selfreport measures; Social psychology; Social support; Surveys and Questionnaires; United States; North America; America; California; Human; Test validation; Construct validity; Social group; Evaluation scale; Psychometrics; Social belonging; Test reliability; Ethnic group; Social identity
• ISSN: 0022-3891; 1532-7752
• DOI: 10.1207/s15327752jpa8602_04

The Scale of Ethnic Experience (SEE) is a new self-report instrument designed to measure multiple ethnicity-related cognitive constructs across ethnic groups. We present the development and psychometric properties here. We generated and refined an item pool using expert consultants and culturally diverse focus groups. We derived a final 32-item version of the SEE based on separate factor analyses of data from college students in 4 ethnic groups: African Americans, Caucasian Americans, Filipino Americans, and Mexican Americans. Four factors were consistent across the ethnic groups: Ethnic Identity, Perceived Discrimination, Mainstream Comfort, and Social Affiliation. We found evidence of test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and criterion and construct validity for all groups. Finally, we cross-validated the factor structure of the SEE in a culturally diverse sample. Results support the reliability and validity of the SEE as a multidimensional measure of ethnicity-related cognitive constructs that can be used across American ethnic groups.