A cluster analysis of Cross Racial Identity Scale scores and their usefulness in predicting levels of acculturation and social distance in the lives of Black college students

This study examined whether the six Cross Racial Identity Scale scores (CRIS; Vandiver et al., 2000) would be useful in predicting levels of acculturation and social distance in the lives of Black college students. Five hypotheses were used to guide the analyses: (a) differential construct validity was expected between the CRIS subscales and the African American Acculturation Scale - Revised (AAAS-R; Klonoff & Landrine, 2000); (b) differential construct validity was expected between the CRIS subscales and several cultural groups specified on a modified version of the Bogardus Social Distance Scale - Revised (BSDS-R; Bogardus, 1933); (c) four to six CRIS clusters, using cluster analysis, were expected to emerge and support the existing clusters found by Worrell et al. (2006); (d) CRIS cluster status were expected to differentially predict the level of acculturation preferred by the students; and (e) CRIS cluster status were expected to differentially predict the degree of social distance from different cultural groups. Participants were 360 college students attending a predominately White institution in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. who self-identified as being African American or Black (70% female; 30% male). Data for this study were collected as part of a larger project, in which only four of the eight measures were used: demographic questionnaire, CRIS, AAAS-R, and BSDS-R. For hypotheses one and two, the findings from the bivariate correlational analyses were consistent with and provided further support for the expanded nigrescence theory (Cross & Vandiver, 2001) and the construct validity of the CRIS. A negative correlation was found between Pre-Encounter Assimilation and the AAAS-R total score; a positive correlation was found between Internalization Afrocentricity and the AAAS-R total score; and a negative correlation was found between Immersion-Emersion Anti-White and BSDS-R Whites subscale. Results of the cluster analysis supported hypothesis three in that six to seven clusters were identified: Assimilated, Self-Hating, Multiculturalist, Immersion, Afrocentric, Immersion - Intense Black Involvement, and Low Race Salience. Additionally, preliminary evidence was found for the existence of two new racial identity cluster patterns: Self-Hating and Immersion - Intense Black Involvement. Using the six-cluster solution, findings from a one-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD post hoc analysis provided preliminary support for CRIS cluster membership in predicting levels of acculturation. On average, individuals who were classified in the Assimilated cluster were likely to rate themselves as more acculturated than those who had been placed in the Afrocentric cluster or Immersion cluster. Those who were classified in the Self-Hating cluster on average were likely to rate themselves as more acculturated than those who had been placed in the Afrocentric cluster. Finally, findings from a MANOVA with a follow-up descriptive discriminant analysis provided preliminary support for hypothesis five that the CRIS clusters could be used to predict the degree of social distance from different cultural groups. The MANOVA was statistically significant for cluster status. Only the first discriminant variate was statistically and practically significant and therefore interpreted. Social distance with Whites had the highest correlation to the variate, followed by social distance with Jews and Asians. In contrast, Other Blacks had a negative correlation to the function. Thus, the function was named dominant culture group preference. On average, individuals in the Self-Hating and Assimilated clusters rated themselves higher on the discriminant function, whereas individuals in the Immersion - Intense Black Involvement, Afrocentric, and Immersion clusters rated themselves lower, and the Multiculturalist cluster fell in the middle. In conclusion, the findings from this study may be potentially informative for clinicians and researchers by providing a contextual understanding for how sociocultural variables such as acculturation and social distance intersect with and are influenced by racial identity. The complexities of racial identity are important for clinicians and researchers to consider in order to more effectively develop interventions tailored to the needs of individuals with different racial identity attitudes.