Further Validation of the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale Among Employed Adults

Abstract

To examine the validity and test the generalizability of the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (PCRW) beyond the original college student sample, a geographically dispersed sample of employed White adults (N = 284) in eight states completed the measure to assess for White empathic reactions toward racism, White guilt, and White fear of people of other races. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor structure, and a test of factorial invariance for the adult sample data compared against the original college-student sample data suggested the need for further refinement and conceptualization of White guilt among employed adults. Convergent validity was documented with indicators of color-blind racial beliefs and openness to diversity. Finally, significant interaction effects between sample (community or college) and sex (male or female) on reported levels of costs were identified.