Development and Validation of the Asian American Women's Shifting Scale (AsAWSS)

The present research developed and validated an instrument to measure shifting or self-altering presentation strategies among Asian American women. A 12-item instrument was developed to measure components of shifting phenomena based in part on literature review, focus group feedback, and an assessment from cultural experts. The initial validation study, using principal axis factor analysis with a promax rotation, was conducted with a national sample of 474 Asian American women. A second independent national sample of 247 Asian American women provided data for a confirmatory factor analysis. Results indicated that the new instrument was composed of the following three factors: White Beauty Conformity, Bicultural Shift, and Asian Language/Culture Avoidance. The evidence of convergent and discriminant validity was provided. Implications for the future research are discussed. Public Significance Statement In this study, we developed and validated a new instrument, the Asian American Women's Shifting Scale (AsAWSS) that purports to measure shifting or self-altering strategies used by some Asian American women in response to perceived cultural cues. Studying shifting may provide greater understanding of some of the coping mechanisms used by this population.