White racial identity attitude development: A psychometric examination of two instruments

The purpose of this investigation was to provide an independent examination of the psychometric properties of the White Racial Identity Attitude Scale (WRIAS; J. E. Helms & R. T. Carter, 1990) and the Oklahoma Racial Attitude Scale-Preliminary Form (ORAS-P; S. Choney & J. Behrens, 1996). After completing both inventories, 387 students in introductory education and psychology classes from a Midwest university were split randomly into 2 groups: Sample 1 (n = 199) was used for exploratory factor analysis, and Sample 2 (n = 188) for confirmatory factor analysis. Four factors reflecting attitudes were identified: Degree of Racial Comfort (Factor 1), Attitudes Toward Racial Equality (Factor 2), Attitudes of Racial Curiosity (Factor 3), and Unachieved Racial Attitudes (Factor 4). Each instrument was represented by 3 of the 4 factors. The WRIAS and ORAS-P overlapped on Factors 1 and 2, the WRIAS loaded only on Factor 3, and the ORAS-P loaded only on Factor 4. Recommendations are made for future investigations.