Being White in America: Development of a Scale

Abstract

The identity of Whites, or Whiteness, in U.S. society has affected interaction between the included and the unincluded and stimulated scholarly discourses from various perspectives. In this study, the concept of Whiteness is examined and operationalized via the newly developed, Being White in America Scale (BWAS). The BWAS was developed by the authors for empirically testing differences in the awareness of Whiteness between Whites and non-Whites. Three-hundred and fifty-five White and 270 non-White college students responded to an online survey containing the BWAS. The results provide empirical evidence for the postulation that non-Whites perceive the privileged positionality of Whites more conspicuously than do Whites themselves. Implications for future research using the BWAS are discussed.

Keywords:

• Whiteness
• Being White in America Scale
• race
• Whites
• non-Whites

Notes

Note. Scores are based on a 5-point scale (minimum = 1, maximum = 5). ¹Loadings on the first unrotated factor of a principle component analysis.

²Scores were reversed for negative items. ^aEigenvalue = 10.43; cumulative percent of variance = 41.7 (n = 345). ^bEigenvalue = 8.82; cumulative percent of variance = 35.3 (n = 260).

*p < .05. ***p < .001. n.s. = not significant (p > .05).

Note. Scores are based on a 5-point scale (minimum = 1, maximum = 5). The results of ANOVA revealed that the main effect of race was significant (F = 69.05, p < .001, η² = .10), but not that of gender. There was no significant interaction between race and gender.

^aTwo white and one non-white participants did not specify their gender.

***p < .001.