Sex Roles

, Volume 77, Issue 3–4, pp 178–193 | Cite as

Initial Development of a Gendered-Racial Socialization Scale for African American College Women

  • Danice L. Brown
  • Sha’Kema Blackmon
  • Christopher B. Rosnick
  • Felicia D. Griffin-Fennell
  • Rhonda L. White-Johnson
Original Article
First Online:

Abstract

As research exploring the racial-ethnic socialization practices of African American families continues to expand, scholars have argued for a more multidimensional approach in the measurement of racial-ethnic socialization that focuses on the influence that youths’ gender may have on the messages families provide. Although studies have used current racial-ethnic socialization measures to examine gender differences in the messages youth receive, these studies are limited in investigating intersectional messages that African American girls and women receive regarding racial and gender identities. The present preliminary study sought to address this inadequacy by developing the Gendered Racial-Ethnic Socialization Scale for Black Women (GRESS-BW), a scale that accounts for the unique messages African American young women receive regarding their intersectional identities. Utilizing a sample of 174 African American college women, Exploratory Factor Analysis indicated that the GRESS-BW consisted of 63 items with a 9-factor solution. There was strong internal consistency for the GRESS-BW factors and the total scale. GRESS-BW construct validity assessment revealed that several of the factors were significantly positively related to a racial-ethnic socialization scale. However, only two components were significantly related to a gender-role socialization measure. Clinical and research implications are discussed.

Keywords

African American Women Socialization Intersectionality 
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Notes

Compliance with Ethical Standards

No identifying information is contained within the manuscript. We certify that this manuscript was conducted in accordance with APA ethical standards. It has not been published elsewhere or submitted elsewhere for review and does not constitute piecemeal publication as defined by APA.

Supplementary material

11199_2016_707_MOESM1_ESM.docx (17 kb)
ESM 1 (DOCX 17 kb)

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Danice L. Brown
    • 1
  • Sha’Kema Blackmon
    • 2
  • Christopher B. Rosnick
    • 3
  • Felicia D. Griffin-Fennell
    • 4
  • Rhonda L. White-Johnson
    • 5
  1. 1.Department of PsychologyTowson UniversityTowsonUSA
  2. 2.Indiana University-Purdue University IndianapolisIndianapolisUSA
  3. 3.Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsvilleUSA
  4. 4.Springfield Technical Community CollegeSpringfieldUSA
  5. 5.University of South CarolinaColumbiaUSA

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