Parent Experiences of Racial Socialization (PERS)

Abstract

The Parent Experiences of Racial Socialization (PERS) scale is a psychological instrument developed to assess the frequency and nature of beliefs held by parents, primarily those of African American descent, regarding the transmission of race-related messages to their children. This 40-item measure captures the multidimensional aspects of Racial Socialization, including cultural pride, preparation for bias, promotion of mainstream coping, and the role of spirituality and kinship in buffering the effects of discrimination. The scale helps researchers and clinicians understand how parents actively prepare their children for navigating a racially stratified society.

Keywords

Racial Socialization, Parenting, African American, Discrimination, Cultural Pride, Spiritual Coping, Preparation for Bias, Psychological Measurement, H. Stevenson.

Authors

Howard C. Stevenson (Stevenson, 1999, 2002).

Purpose

The primary purpose of the PERS scale is to quantify the beliefs and experiences of parents concerning the transmission of race-related messages to their children. It aims to measure how frequently parents engage in various forms of racial socialization, which are critical processes in the psychological development and cultural identity formation of minority youth. By focusing on parental perspectives, the scale provides insight into the proactive and reactive strategies parents employ to foster resilience and cultural competence in their children.

This instrument aids researchers in understanding the variance in parental attitudes toward issues such as race consciousness, integration into the mainstream, awareness of systemic discrimination, and the utilization of cultural and spiritual resources for coping with life struggles.

Construct

The PERS scale measures the complex psychological construct of Racial Socialization (RS). RS refers to the developmental process by which parents transmit information, values, and perspectives about race, ethnicity, and racism to their children. The scale captures several distinct dimensions of this construct, often categorized into themes such as:

• Cultural Pride/Cultural Heritage: Messages encouraging racial pride, knowledge of African heritage, and positive self-regard.
• Preparation for Bias: Messages aimed at promoting awareness of racial discrimination and preparing children for potential encounters with prejudice.
• Egalitarianism/Mainstream Coping: Messages emphasizing hard work, individual effort, and the belief that success is possible within the current American system.
• Spiritual/Religious Coping: Messages stressing the importance of faith, God, and spiritual battles in dealing with life challenges and racial antagonism.

Validity

The construct validity of the PERS scale has been explored through various factor analytic studies, which confirm its multidimensional nature. These studies generally support the scale’s ability to differentiate between distinct components of parental racial socialization beliefs, such as those focusing on protection versus those focusing on cultural enrichment.

For instance, the factor structure identified by Thomas et al. (2013) demonstrated that the items cluster logically into theoretically meaningful subscales, providing evidence that the scale is measuring the intended facets of racial socialization experiences within African American families. The alignment of the derived factors with established RS typologies reinforces the scale’s theoretical grounding and validity in the field of developmental Psychology.

Reliability

The Parent Experiences of Racial Socialization scale demonstrates strong internal consistency. Across various research applications, the scale has shown robust reliability. The overall internal consistency, as measured by Cronbach’s alpha, has been reported at .88, indicating a high degree of correlation between the items and confirming that the scale reliably measures a consistent underlying construct. Reliability has also been demonstrated across the various derived subscales, although specific alpha values vary depending on the factor structure employed in the study.

Factor Analysis

Several studies have utilized Factor Analysis to explore the underlying structure of the 40 items contained within the PERS scale. While Stevenson’s original conceptualization guided the items, subsequent empirical work has refined the factor structure, highlighting the complexity of parental socialization efforts.

Key factor structures identified in the literature include:

• Thomas et al. (2013) Factors:
  • Cultural coping with antagonism (CCA)
  • Cultural pride reinforcement (CPR)
  • Cultural appreciation of legacy (CAL)
  • Cultural alertness to discrimination (CAD)
  • Cultural endorsement of the mainstream (CEM)

  (Note: Thomas et al. also reported a four-factor model focusing on Religion and spirituality, Alertness to discrimination, Mainstream, and Cultural pride and coping.)

• Friend (2009) Factors:
  • Cultural Survival
  • Spiritual Coping
  • Preparation for Bias
  • Pride Development

These analyses confirm that PERS is a multifaceted tool, capable of measuring specific, distinct components of parental racial messaging, making it suitable for nuanced research in family and race relations. The original PDF describing the Factor Analysis by Thomas et al. (2013) can be downloaded here: http://help-llc.org/images/pdfs/2.pdf.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report inventory/Attitudinal measure

Format: 40 items, typically using a 3-point Likert-type scale (1 = never, 2= a few times, 3= a lot of the time) to measure the frequency of beliefs or behaviors.

Language Available: English

Population Group: Parents and caregivers of youth.

Age Group: Adults (Parents/Caregivers).

Population Details: Primarily developed and validated using parents of African American youth.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate the frequency or intensity of their beliefs regarding racial socialization practices and their views on race relations in American society.

Keywords

Racial identity, Kinship support, Spiritual coping, African heritage, Prejudice, Resilience, Parent-child communication, Unpublished measure.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source material.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source material (Original affiliation was University of Pennsylvania).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The initial development of the Parent Experiences of Racial Socialization (PERS) scale occurred in 1999 (Stevenson, 1999), with subsequent refinement and publication in 2002 (Stevenson et al., 2002). The scale is often cited as an “Unpublished Measure.” Researchers seeking to use the scale should consult the primary author or relevant academic publications for permissions, as fee information is not publicly specified for this instrument.

The instrument can be accessed via academic repositories, including documentation for a Master’s thesis and a Doctoral dissertation. The doctoral dissertation by Friend (2009), which includes the instrument, can be found here: https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/Friend_uncg_0154D_10117.pdf.

Reference’s

• Stevenson, H. (1999). Parents experience of racial socialization. Unpublished Measure, University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education, Philadelphia.
• Stevenson, H., Reed, J. & Bodison, P. (1996). Kinship social support and adolescent racial socialization beliefs: Extending the self to family. Journal of Black Psychology, 22, 4, 498-508.
• Stevenson, H., Cameron, R., Herrero-Taylor, T. & Davis, G. (2002). Development of the teenager experience of racial socialization scale: Correlates of race-related socialization frequency from the perspective of Black youth. Journal of Black Psychology, 28, 2, 84-106.
• Stevenson, H. C. (2006). Development and Scoring of the Racial Socialization Belief and Experience Scales for Adolescents and Parents. Unpublished Manuscript: University of Pennsylvania.
• Friend, Christian A. (2009). The Influences of Parental Racial Socialization on the Academic Achievement of African American Children: A Cultural-Ecological Approach. University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Doctoral dissertation.
• Thomas, A. J., Blackmon, S., Speight, S. L., et al, (2013). Factor Analysis of the Parent Experience of Racial Socialization Scale. Journal of Black Psychology, 40(3). published online. DOI: 10.1177/0095798413483558.
• Cole, Nathasha. (2014). The Effects of Racial Socialization and Parent-Child Relationship Quality on Emerging Adult Reports of Racial Discrimination to Parents. Virginia Commonwealth University. Master of Science thesis.

Items of the Parent Experiences of Racial Socialization (PERS)

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

1. American society is fair toward Black people.
2. Black children will feel better about themselves if they go to a school with mostly white children.
3. Families who go to a church or mosque will be close and stay together.
4. Black slavery is important never to forget.
5. Relatives can help Black parents raise their children.
6. Religion is an important part of a person’s life.
7. Racism and discrimination are the hardest things a Black child has to face.
8. ha‎ving large families can help many Black families survive life struggles.
9. You should be proud to be Black.
10. All races are equal.
11. If you work hard then you can overcome barriers in life.
12. A belief in God can help a person deal with tough life struggles.
13. Black children will learn more if they go to a mostly white school.
14. Knowing your African heritage is important for your survival.
15. Racism is real and you have to understand it or it will hurt you.
16. You are connected to a history that goes back to African royalty.
17. Too much talk about racism will keep you from reaching your goals in life.
18. Schools should be required to teach all children about Black history.
19. Depending on religion and God will help you live a good life.
20. Families who talk openly about religion or God will help each other to grow.
21. Teachers can help Black children grow by showing signs of Black culture in the classroom.
22. Only people who are blood-related to you should be called your “Family.”
23. Getting a good education is still the best way for you to get ahead.
24. “Don’t forget who your people are because you may need them someday.”
25. Spiritual battles that people fight are more important than the physical battles.
26. You should know about Black history so that you will be a better person.
27. “Train up a child in the way he should go, and he will not turn away from it.”
28. You have to work twice as hard as whites in order to get ahead in this world.
29. Whites make it hard for people to get ahead in this world.
30. Be proud of who you are.
31. Going to a Black school will help Black children feel better about themselves.
32. You need to learn how to live in a White world and a Black world.
33. Never be ashamed of your color.
34. Whites have more opportunities than Blacks.
35. A Black child or teenager will be harassed just because s/he is Black.
36. More job opportunities would be open to African Americans if people were not racist.
37. Black children should be taught early that God can protect them from racial hatred.
38. Blacks don’t always have the same opportunities as whites.
39. Black children don’t have to know about Africa in order to survive life in America.
40. Racism is not as bad today as it used to be before the 1960’s.