| The purpose of this exploratory investigation was to develop a conceptually grounded and reliable scale assessing white privilege attitudes in European Americans and to address the dearth of empirical study in the white privilege literature. White privilege was defined as an expression of power that arises from receipt of benefits and immunities, originates from a stratified racial hierarchy with advantages for whites based not on merit but on white skin, operates at institutional, cultural and individual levels, and is characterized by unearned advantages and a sense of entitlement resulting in both material and societal dominance by whites over people of color. The White Privilege Attitudes Scale (WPAS), designed to reflect cognitive-behavioral and affective reactions to increasing white privilege awareness, provides a means with which to evaluate training and identify effective practices. The study describes the construction process, beginning with item generation and expert review for content validity, resulting in the Preliminary WPAS. Participants were 284 students from counseling psychology, counselor education, and teacher education programs recruited nationally to complete the questionnaire packet, consisting of the following instruments: the Preliminary WPAS (P-WPAS); a measure of preference for social hierarchy, a measure of color-blind racial beliefs, a measure of racist attitudes, and a demographic information sheet. The resulting 54-item scale evidenced high internal consistency (.83 to .92 for the cognitive-behavioral subscales). Results from exploratory factor analysis suggested a two factor solution, accounting for 42% of the variance, departing slightly from the expected factor structure. Factor One (Support of White Privilege) is a bipolar factor characterized by investment in maintaining white privilege versus willingness to dismantle it. Factor Two (Distressed Acknowledgement of White Privilege) is characterized by a sense of indecision, guilt, and anxiety in knowing white privilege exists and requires undefined remedial action. Empirical relationships between the WPAS and the related measures established initial validity estimates, and in general supported the use of the WPAS as a meaningful and unique measure of white privilege attitudes. Limitations and implications of the findings, as well as suggestions for future research and use of the WPAS in training are presented. |
