Scale Description

The Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS-40) is a tool developed to assess individuals’ identity in relation to their race. Created by William E. Cross Jr., it is used to measure aspects of racial identity such as the sense of belonging to a racial group, perceptions of the racial group in relation to other groups, and personal attitudes and values regarding race.

Analysis and Use of Data

The CRIS-40 scale includes 40 questions that assess various aspects of racial identity, such as the sense of collective identity, self-esteem related to race, and beliefs about racial relations. The questions are divided into four subscales:

Self-Definition: How much the individual’s identity is defined by race.

Cultural Involvement: Engagement in cultural or racial activities.

Racial Support: Level of support and cooperation with other members of the racial group.

Recognition: How much race is recognized as an important aspect of identity by others.

The scale can be used in research studies to understand the relationships between racial identity and other psychological, social, and academic parameters, such as academic success, social interactions, and mental well-being.

Analysis: Data collected from the scale are analyzed using statistical methods such as factor analysis and correlation analysis to understand the relationship between different dimensions of racial identity.

Application: The scale can be used to determine the effects of racial identity on personal and academic development and to help design interventions that enhance the sense of personal and collective value.

Objective

The goal of the CRIS-40 is to provide a reliable and valid tool for assessing racial identity and to help researchers and practitioners understand how racial identity affects personal development, social relationships, and academic success. The scale also aims to promote awareness and understanding of differences in racial identity and their impact on individuals.

Scoring

Scoring of the CRIS-40 is as follows:

Each question is rated on a Likert scale (e.g., 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neither Agree Nor Disagree, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree).

The total score for each subscale is calculated by summing the responses to the questions related to that subscale.

Total scores for each subscale can be used to determine the general trend of an individual’s racial identity and compare with other variables or groups.

References

Cross, W. E. Jr. (1991). The psychology of nigrescence: Revising the Cross model. In R. L. Jones (Ed.), Black Psychology (pp. 319-339). Sage Publications.

Cross, W. E. Jr. (1995). The Revised Nigrescence Scale. In C. L. Ward, & M. J. Whittaker (Eds.), Handbook of Black Psychology (pp. 125-142). Routledge.

Bentley-Edwards, K. L., & Stevenson, H. C. (2013). “Evolving with the times: Reconceptualizing the measurement of racial/ethnic socialization to account for multidimensional processes.” Handbook of Multicultural Counseling (pp. 149-171). Sage Publications.

Laurent, V. R. (2016). “The impact of racial socialization on the academic achievement of Black students.” Western Michigan University Dissertation. Retrieved from http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/1609.