Development and validation of the Perceived Online Racism Scale short form (15 items) and very brief (six items)

Abstract

The Perceived Online Racism Scale (PORS) provides important contemporary information in better understanding the experiences of racism in today’s digital society. However, the utility of the 30-item PORS may require lengthy addition to study surveys. Especially for large survey batteries (e.g., epidemiological studies), researchers may prefer short measures to avoid participant fatigue that can affect the validity of the responses. Thus, the aim of the current study was to optimize the utility of PORS by developing brief versions that still maintain the psychometric properties. With multi-sample archival data (total N ​= ​947), we developed the 15-item three-factor PORS-SF (short-form) based on factor analytic procedures and the six-item unidimensional PORS-VB (very brief) based on bifactor modeling and tested whether both measures performed as well as the original PORS. With additional data collection (N ​= ​454), we further validated the factor structures and expanded the construct validity of the shortened measures. Across all samples, the PORS-SF and PORS-VB demonstrated good model fit, adequate internal consistency estimates, and showed construct validity evidence similar to the original PORS. Measurement invariance across racial/ethnic groups (Black, Asian, Latinx, Multiracial) and gender (women and men) was also replicated. Overall, results suggest that PORS-SF captures the same three domains of the PORS and PORS-VB captures the same general factor of the PORS with much shorter sets of items. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Keywords

• Online racism
• Cyber-racism
• Cyberbullying
• Online victimization
• Measure development
• Brief measure