Development and validation of the Internalized Racial Oppression Scale for Black individuals.

Abstract

This article describes the development and validation of the Internalized Racial Oppression Scale (IROS) for Black individuals in 2 studies using a total sample of 468 Black college students. The IROS is intended to measure the degree to which racial oppression is internalized and replicated by Black individuals in the United States. An exploratory factor analysis suggested a five-factor solution: Belief in the Biased Representation of History (BRH), Devaluation of the African Worldview and Motifs (DAW), Alteration of Physical Appearance (APA), Internalization of Negative Stereotypes (INS), and Hair Change (HC). Confirmatory factory analysis supported an adequate model fit of a four-factor model: BRH, APA, INS, and HC. All factors of the IROS were positively correlated with the Pre-Encounter subscale of the Racial Identity Attitude Scale (RIAS-B; J. E. Helms & T. A. Parham, 1996), and 4 of the factors were negatively correlated with the Immersion/Emersion subscale of the RIAS-B. Four factors of the IROS were negatively correlated with all subscales and total scores of the African Self-Consciousness Scale (J. A. Baldwin & Y. R. Bell, 1985). These results provide some support of the validity of the IROS.

Internalized Racism: A Systematic Review of the Psychological Literature on Racism's Most Insidious Consequence

“…It is noteworthy that the first quantitative measure for internalized racism—the Nadanolization Scale—was not published until Taylor and Grundy (), perhaps a reflection of how internalized racism has been neglected by psychology. However, what is perhaps a reflection of the recent surge in psychological interest in internalized racism is that—in just the last decade—there have been psychometrically developed scales to capture internalized racism as experienced by various groups, such as African Americans (Bailey et al., ), Asian Americans (Choi, Israel, & Maeda, ; Liao, ), Filipino Americans (David & Okazaki, ), Latinx (Hipolito‐Delgado, ), Puerto Ricans (Capielo et al., ), Ghanaians (Utsey et al, ), and even a general scale for use with all Peoples of Color (Campon & Carter, ). Although groups differ in their experiences of internalized racism (e.g., desiring straight hair is common among African Americans but not Filipinos, while desiring straighter/bridged noses is common among Filipinos but not African Americans), it is important to note that there are some consistent similarities such as feelings of inferiority, shame, or embarrassment; adopting American or Western standards of physical attractiveness (e.g., lighter skin tones); animosity toward other members of one's racial/ethnic group; and minimizing, tolerating, denying, and even justifying racism.…”

African American Career Aspirations

“…Internalized racism has been conceptualized as a modern, covert form of racism that causes African Americans to collude with their own racial oppression, devaluing their African American culture and heritage (Bailey, Chung, Williams, Singh, & Terrell, 2011;Speight, 2007).…”

“…Later studies utilized measures of racial identity-''the significance and qualitative meaning that individuals attribute to being Black in their conceptualizations of self'' (Sellers & Shelton, 2003, p. 1080) as a means of assessing African American participants' internal self-hatred (Bailey et al, 2011). However, more recently, authors have argued that this psychological process may have numerous underlying aspects including internalizing negative racial stereotypes (e.g., African Americans are lazy) and desiring features considered to be more European (e.g., body size, facial features, and hair texture; Bailey et al, 2011;Townsend, Thomas, Neilands, & Jackson, 2010). For example, Bailey, Chung, Williams, Singh, and Terrell (2011) suggested that the operationalization of internalized racial oppression may include beliefs that Africans and African Americans have not made significant contributions to history, devaluation of one's African heritage, desiring physical modifications to achieve Eurocentric standards of attractiveness, Eurocentric hairstyles, and acceptance of negative stereotypes regarding African Americans.…”

“…However, more recently, authors have argued that this psychological process may have numerous underlying aspects including internalizing negative racial stereotypes (e.g., African Americans are lazy) and desiring features considered to be more European (e.g., body size, facial features, and hair texture; Bailey et al, 2011;Townsend, Thomas, Neilands, & Jackson, 2010). For example, Bailey, Chung, Williams, Singh, and Terrell (2011) suggested that the operationalization of internalized racial oppression may include beliefs that Africans and African Americans have not made significant contributions to history, devaluation of one's African heritage, desiring physical modifications to achieve Eurocentric standards of attractiveness, Eurocentric hairstyles, and acceptance of negative stereotypes regarding African Americans. Speight (2007) argued that internalization of racial oppression may be the most psychologically harmful consequence of racial discrimination.…”

“…Internalized racism may also have a generational impact in which negative attitudes regarding ones racial-ethnic background are conveyed to and absorbed by children in the socialization process (Parmer, Arnold, Natt, & Janson, 2004). Once racially oppressive views of self are adopted by an individual, they may result not only in a negative sense of self but may lead to negative beliefs and behaviors toward other African Americans and individuals of African descent (Bailey et al, 2011). Given the psychological consequences of internalized racial oppression, it is important to understand the ways in which this aspect of racial oppression might influence various developmental processes, such as career development, among African Americans.…”