Anti-Black Scale (ABS)

Abstract

The Anti-Black Scale (ABS) is a psychological instrument developed by Katz and Hass in 1988 to measure specific components of subtle or modern prejudice directed toward Black Americans. It is particularly designed to capture beliefs that attribute the socioeconomic disadvantages faced by Black communities to internal failings, such as weak family structure or lack of motivation, rather than to systemic or historical discrimination. The scale is frequently used in social psychology to study Racial attitudes, Ambivalence, and the relationship between values conflict and racial bias.

The ABS consists of 10 items rated on a Likert-style response format. Its development was foundational to understanding how anti-Black sentiment manifests in a post-civil rights era where overt racism is socially unacceptable. The scale exhibits strong internal Reliability, making it a robust measure for research into symbolic racism and prejudice.

Keywords

Racial Ambivalence, Anti-Black Racism, Modern Racism, Symbolic Racism, Racial attitudes, Prejudice, Stereotypes, Value Conflict.

Authors

Katz, Irwin; Hass, R. G.

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the Anti-Black Scale (ABS) is to operationalize and quantify aspects of anti-Black prejudice that rely on the attribution of blame to the target group. Unlike older scales measuring blatant hostility, the ABS focuses on modern forms of bias, which often involve the rejection of assistance to Black communities based on the belief that they do not adhere to traditional American values (such as hard work and individualism).

The scale was instrumental in the original research exploring racial ambivalence, positing that many White Americans experience conflict between their genuine commitment to egalitarian values and underlying negative cultural stereotypes about Black Americans. The ABS provides a measure of these negative beliefs, which often serve as a rationalization for opposing policies aimed at reducing racial inequality.

Construct

The psychological construct measured by the ABS aligns closely with concepts of Symbolic Racism or Modern Racism. This construct is characterized by a blend of negative feelings toward Black people combined with traditional, conservative American values. The items specifically target beliefs related to:

• The perceived lack of work ethic or drive (e.g., seeking a “free ride”).
• The perceived instability or weakness of Black family and community structures.
• The perceived lack of self-respect or emphasis on education within the community.

The score derived from the ABS indicates the degree to which an individual holds socio-political beliefs that blame Black individuals for their lack of success, thereby reflecting a modern, institutionalized form of racial bias rather than old-fashioned, biological prejudice.

Validity

The original research by Katz and Hass (1988) provided evidence for the scale’s construct validity. The ABS demonstrated significant correlation with other established measures of racial bias, confirming its ability to measure prejudice effectively. Crucially, its development within the framework of racial Ambivalence allowed researchers to differentiate this form of symbolic prejudice from measures of traditional, overt hostility.

Subsequent studies have confirmed its predictive validity, showing that scores on the ABS predict opposition to policies designed to address racial inequality, such as affirmative action or welfare programs, even when controlling for general political conservatism.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the Anti-Black Scale (ABS) is consistently reported as high across various studies. Internal Reliability, which measures the extent to which all items in the scale measure the same underlying construct, is typically assessed using Cronbach’s alpha.

One specific study reviewing the instrument (Wisdom, 2010) reported a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.89. This value is well above the acceptable threshold for psychological scales and indicates that the 10 items of the ABS cohere strongly, confirming its high internal consistency and measurement precision.

Factor Analysis

Although the scale is short (10 items), factor analytic studies generally support the conceptualization of the ABS as a measure of a single, powerful factor reflecting negative, symbolic stereotypes about Black Americans. The high internal consistency (alpha = 0.89) suggests that the items load onto a common factor representing the attribution of Black disadvantage to internal, cultural, or motivational failings.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire; Psychological attitude scale.

Format: The scale utilizes a Likert scale response format, typically ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” The specific number of points (e.g., 5 or 7) may vary slightly depending on the researcher implementing the scale, but the response range captures the intensity of agreement with the prejudicial statements.

Language Available: English (Original research context is the United States).

Population Group: Primarily used with White American adults and college students to assess their Racial attitudes and degree of Ambivalence.

Age Group: Adult population (18+).

Population Details: The scale is widely employed in academic research focused on prejudice, social cognition, and intergroup relations.

Test Methodology: Respondents are asked to rate their level of agreement with 10 statements concerning the characteristics and societal issues related to Black Americans.

Keywords

Modern Racism, Prejudice Measurement, Social Psychology, Racial Stereotypes, Likert scale, Internal Consistency, Reliability, Katz and Hass.

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source content.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source content.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Anti-Black Scale (ABS) was initially published in 1988 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. As a psychometric instrument published within the public domain of academic literature, it is generally available for use by researchers without fee, provided that the original authors (Katz & Hass, 1988) are properly cited.

The original PDF containing the instrument and related materials referenced in subsequent research can be downloaded here: https://shareok.org/bitstream/handle/11244/6988/Department%20of%20Psychology_66.pdf?sequence=1

Reference’s

• Katz, I., & Hass, R. G. (1988). Racial ambivalence and American value conflict: Correlational and priming studies of dual cognitive structures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 893-905.
• Wisdom, Nicholas M. (2010). social acceptance of age discrimination. Oklahoma State University. Doctoral dissertation.

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Items of the Anti-Black Scale (ABS)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. The root cause of most of the social and economic ills of Blacks is the weakness and instability of the Black family.
2. Although there are exceptions‚ Black urban neighborhoods don’t seem to have strong community organization or leadership.
3. On the whole‚ Black people don’t stress education and training.
4. Many Black teenagers don’t respect themselves or anyone else.
5. Blacks don’t seem to use opportunities to own and operate little shops and businesses.
6. Very few Black people are just looking for a free ride.
7. Black children would do better in school if their parents had better attitudes about learning.
8. Blacks should take the jobs that are available and then work their way up to better jobs.
9. One of the biggest problems for a lot of Blacks is their lack of self-respect.
10. Most Blacks have the drive and determination to get ahead.