Parent Experiences of Racial Socialization – PERS
Measures the frequency and types of racial socialization messages parents transmit to their children, focusing on cultural pride, bias preparation, and mainstream integration.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Parent Experiences of Racial Socialization – PERS was developed by Howard C. Stevenson (1999). It is designed to measure Racial Socialization. The scale is intended for use with Parents of African American children.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 40 items organized into 5 factors/subscales: Cultural Coping with Antagonism, Cultural Pride Reinforcement, Cultural Appreciation of Legacy, Cultural Alertness to Discrimination, Cultural Endorsement of the Mainstream.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Cultural Coping with Antagonism | 3,5,6,8,12,19,20,21,22,24,25,27,31,32,37 | 15 |
| Cultural Pride Reinforcement | 9,30,33 | 3 |
| Cultural Appreciation of Legacy | 4,14,16,18,26 | 5 |
| Cultural Alertness to Discrimination | 7,15,28,29,34,35,36,38 | 8 |
| Cultural Endorsement of the Mainstream | 1,2,10,11,13,17,23,39,40 | 9 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Never, 2 = A few times, 3 = A lot of the time.
The scale includes 4 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 40 to 120. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low Frequency of Socialization Messages: 40 – 66
- Moderate Frequency of Socialization Messages: 67 – 93
- High Frequency of Socialization Messages: 94 – 120
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.88.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.