Cultural and Racial Experiences of Socialization Scale (CARES)

Abstract

The Cultural and Racial Experiences of Socialization Scale (CARES) is a psychological scale developed by Bentley-Edwards and Stevenson (2013) designed to measure the multidimensional processes of racial and ethnic socialization among Black individuals. It represents an evolution from earlier, more limited instruments, aiming to capture the complexity of contemporary racial experiences, including messages related to cultural pride, awareness of racism, and internal group dynamics. CARES moves beyond traditional models by incorporating distinct subscales that address both protective mechanisms and potentially harmful stereotypes prevalent within the socialization process.

The instrument is structured around 35 items that load onto five distinct factors, allowing researchers to assess the specific dimensions of socialization messages received by participants, as well as the source and frequency of these messages. CARES is particularly valuable for research focused on the mental health, academic achievement, and racial identity development of African American adolescents and college students.

Keywords

Racial Socialization, Ethnic Socialization, African American, Racial Identity, Cultural Insight, Racial Stereotyping, Bicultural Coping, Psychological Assessment, Race Relations.

Authors

K. L. Bentley-Edwards, H. C. Stevenson

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Cultural and Racial Experiences of Socialization Scale (CARES) is to provide a comprehensive and contemporary measure of the racial and ethnic socialization messages received by Black individuals. It was developed to address the limitations of older scales that often failed to capture the full spectrum of experiences, particularly those related to intragroup relations, colorism, and spiritual coping mechanisms.

CARES seeks to identify not only messages affirming cultural pride and preparing individuals for bias (Racial Protection), but also messages conveying racial stereotypes and strategies for navigating predominantly White environments (Bicultural Coping). By assessing the frequency and source of these messages, the scale offers deeper insight into how families, peers, and media shape racial identity and coping strategies.

Construct

The CARES measures the Racial Socialization construct, defined as the process by which parents, family, peers, and community members communicate messages about race, ethnic identity, intergroup relations, and coping with racism to children and adolescents. Unlike previous models focusing solely on preparation for bias or cultural pride, CARES adopts a multidimensional approach encompassing five distinct domains: Racial Protection, Cultural Insights, Racial Stereotyping, Bicultural Coping, and Old School Basics.

These dimensions capture both proactive (e.g., teaching history and heritage) and reactive (e.g., teaching caution around other racial groups) forms of socialization, as well as messages related to socioeconomic status, gender roles within the Black community, and spiritual resilience.

Validity

The validity of the CARES instrument is rooted in its conceptual development, which aimed to update and expand upon existing measures like the Scale of Racial Socialization for African American Adolescents (Stevenson, 1994). The scale demonstrates content validity by sampling a broad range of contemporary racial experiences and messages that are relevant to the modern Black experience, including concepts like colorism (Item 11, 32) and intragroup conflict (Item 5, 17, 32).

Empirical support for its construct validity is derived from studies such as Laurent (2016), which utilized the scale in research concerning the academic achievement of Black college students. The five-factor structure, determined through factor analysis, supports the instrument’s multidimensional representation of the socialization construct.

Reliability

The internal consistency (reliability) of the CARES subscales was examined in studies, including the dissertation work by Laurent (2016). The Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients reported for the five factors indicate varying levels of internal consistency:

• Cultural Insights: .78
• Racial Protection: .75
• Bicultural Coping: .60
• Old School Basics: .56
• Racial Stereotyping: .48

While the Cultural Insights and Racial Protection factors demonstrate acceptable to good internal consistency (alpha > .70), the factors related to Bicultural Coping, Old School Basics, and particularly Racial Stereotyping exhibit lower reliability coefficients (alpha < .60). This suggests that researchers should interpret scores derived from the lower-reliability subscales with caution, though such lower values are sometimes tolerated in measures of complex, newly defined social constructs.

Factor Analysis

The CARES instrument is characterized by a five-factor structure, which emerged during its development and subsequent testing. These factors represent distinct dimensions of the racial socialization messages received by Black individuals:

1. Racial Protection: Messages intended to prepare the individual for bias and hostility from the dominant culture (e.g., Item 6, 10, 33).
2. Cultural Insights: Messages that emphasize pride, history, heritage, and the importance of Black culture and identity (e.g., Item 1, 2, 24).
3. Racial Stereotyping: Messages that convey negative or essentialist stereotypes about Black people, often related to gender, socioeconomic status, or internal group dynamics (e.g., Item 7, 15, 35).
4. Bicultural Coping: Messages instructing individuals on how to navigate or adapt to predominantly White settings, sometimes involving self-censorship or strategic behavior (e.g., Item 8, 31).
5. Old School Basics: Messages that reflect traditional, often spiritual or historical, wisdom and guidance regarding life and community survival (e.g., Item 9, 28).

The Factor Analysis confirms the multidimensional nature of racial socialization, demonstrating that these constructs are relatively distinct, though some factors show weaker internal clustering (as indicated by the lower alpha scores).

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological scale assessing received socialization messages.

Format: 35 items, presented with two distinct response formats.

Language Available: English.

Population Group: Black individuals (primarily African American).

Age Group: Adolescents and adults (validated in studies of college students).

Population Details: Used to assess the influence of racial socialization on outcomes such as academic achievement and identity development among Black populations.

Test Methodology: Participants respond to each item using a frequency scale (“How often?”) and an identification scale (“Where did you hear this?”).

• Frequency Scale Options: Never, A Few Times, Lots of Times.
• Source Identification Options: Mother/Guardian, Father/Guardian, Grandparent, Sibling, Teacher/Professor, Other Adult, Friend/Peer, Media (TV, Movies, Internet, Books), No one told me.

Keywords

Psychometrics, Race, Ethnicity, Social Psychology, Measurement, Intragroup Relations, Colorism, Cultural Competence.

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 scale was developed and presented in a manuscript submitted for publication in 2013 (Bentley-Edwards & Stevenson). As the scale often appears in academic dissertations and research repositories, it is typically accessible for academic, non-commercial research purposes, but researchers should contact the authors or relevant university repository for formal usage permissions.

The instrument is often accessed through the Western Michigan University dissertation repository, which hosts related research. The original instrument utilized in the Laurent (2016) study can be found via this repository link: http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2617&context=dissertations.

Reference’s

Bentley-Edwards, K. L., & Stevenson, H. C. (2013). Evolving with the Times: Recasting racial/ethnic socialization measurement to account for multidimensional processes. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Laurent, Vanessa R. (2016). The Influence of Racial Socialization on the Academic Achievement of Black College Students. Western Michigan University, Dissertations. 1609.

Stevenson, H. C. (1994). Validation of the scale of Racial Socialization for African American Adolescents: Steps toward multidimensionality. Journal of Black Psychology, 20, 445-468. doi:10.1177/00957984940204005

Items of the Cultural and Racial Experiences of Socialization Scale (CARES)

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

1. You should be proud to be Black.
2. Schools should be required to teach all children about Black history.
3. It’s important to remember the experience of Black slavery.
4. Living in an all Black neighborhood is no way to show that you are successful.
5. African and Caribbean people think they are better than Black Americans.
6. You really can’t trust most White people.
7. Poor Black people are always looking for a hand out.
8. Fitting into school or work means swallowing your anger when you see racism.
9. Spiritual battles that people fight are more important than the physical battles.
10. Whites make it hard for people to get ahead in this world.
11. Life is easier for light-skinned Black people than it is for dark-skinned Black people.
12. Since the world has become so multicultural‚ it’s wrong to only focus on Black issues.
13. Black children should be taught early that God can protect them from racial hatred.
14. Sports are the only way for Black kids to get out of the hood.
15. Black men just want sex.
16. Black women keep the family strong.
17. Africans and Caribbean people get along with Black Americans.
18. When Black people make money‚ they try to forget they are Black.
19. You can’t trust Black people who act too friendly with White people.
20. “Don’t forget who your people are because you may need them someday.”
21. You should learn more about Black history so that you can prevent people from treating you unfairly.
22. Black children will learn more if they go to a mostly White school.
23. You have to work twice as hard as Whites in order to get ahead in this world.
24. Knowing your African heritage is important for the survival of Black people.
25. Sometimes you have to correct White people when they make racist statements about Black people.
26. You can learn a lot from being around important White people.
27. Racism is not as bad today as it used to be.
28. “Train up a child in the way he should go‚ and he will not turn away from it.”
29. Black people have to work together in order to get ahead.
30. More jobs would be open to African Americans if employers were not racist.
31. Sometimes you have to make yourself less threatening to make White people around you comfortable.
32. Light skinned Blacks think they are better than dark-skinned Black people.
33. Racism is real‚ and you have to understand it or it will hurt you.
34. Good Black men are the backbone of a strong family.
35. Black women just want money.