Assessment, Ethnic Identity

Jean S. Phinney

Many different methods have been used to assess ethnic identity. Measures depend on the conceptualization of the construct to be assessed, and ethnic identity has been conceptualized in a wide variety of ways. Social and developmental psychologists, as well as others who study ethnic identity, focus on differing aspects of ethnic identity, including ethnic self-labeling, identification with and commitment to an ethnic group, and the process by which an ethnic identity is formed. This entry reviews differing approaches to the study of ethnic identity and discusses measures that have been used to assess various aspects of the construct. At the simplest level, some people consider ethnic identity to be the group label that one uses to identify oneself; for example, Chinese or Mexican American. To assess this self-label, two types of measures have been used. One approach uses an open-ended item, asking simply, “In terms of ethnic group, what do ...

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