Adaptation and validation of the Johnson-Lecci scale to assess anti-white bias among black UK minority group members

Abstract

The present study (total N = 901) set out to construct and validate a culturally sensitive instrument to examine anti-White bias among Black UK minority group members. Our novel measure of anti-White bias–which we called the AWB scale–was based upon the Johnson-Lecci scale (JLS; 2003) a questionnaire designed to measure anti-White attitudes among Black Americans. Studies 1 and 2 provided converging evidence for the AWB’s four-factor dimensionality, its structural characteristics, its temporal stability and its external validity in Black UK samples, attesting to the consistency of minorities’ experience of anti-majority bias in two very different societal contexts. Moreover, Study 3 evidenced our measure’s utility for understanding reactions to various relevant contemporary societal events. Theoretical contributions to the literature on intergroup bias are delineated and compared with majority-to-minority prejudice.