Biographical variable, racism, sexism and the personality development of Black female undergraduates: an exploratory investigation

Abstract

One purpose of the present study was to develop and refine a biographical questionnaire. A second purpose was to assess the construct validity of the racial discrimination and sexual discrimination measures. A third purpose was to determine the relationship between biographical variables, racism, sexism and the self-esteem, trust level, and attitudes toward success of black women. Sixty-one Bishop College females, 53 Jarvis Christian College females, and 46 Texas Christian University females were asked to complete several situational, biographical and personality measures. The biographical questionnaire proved to be multifactor and reasonably sound. Construct validity was supported for the sexual discrimination measure, but not the racial discrimination measure. Also, standard predictions concerning the relationship between exposure to racism, exposure to sexism and self-esteem, trust, or attitudes toward success were not supported by the data. However, a significant relationship was found between biographical variables (i.e. education level of parents and grandparents, mother's status) and feelings toward racism and cultural mistrust. In addition to an examination of the findings and their relation to previous theoretical and empirical evidence, implications for future research are discussed.