Examining the impact of education on Lumbee identity: A psychometric analysis of the multigroup ethnic identity measure-revised

The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure-Revised (MEIM--R; Phinney & Ong, 2007) has been used and validated with a number of ethnic groups. Unfortunately, no studies have examined the psychometric properties of the MEIM--R on an American Indian or Lumbee sample, and American Indians were not included in the sample during scale development. The MEIM--R was administered to 644 participants who culturally identified as Lumbee, regardless of their tribal enrollment status (citizenship). The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the MEIM--R with a Lumbee sample. In addition, this study also investigated the impact of education on Lumbee identity development as measured by the MEIM--R. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and reliability analysis was performed to determine the psychometric properties of the MEIM--R and model fit. The results of the CFA confirmed the a priori two-factor structure of the MEIM--R with a Lumbee sample. Additional analyses also demonstrated good internal consistency and provided evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. These findings are consistent with previous studies confirming the reliability and validity of the instrument. Lastly, although non-significant, this study did find evidence of a relationship between education and ethnic identity development.