title: Taking a Closer Look at Group Identity: The Link Between Theory and Measurement of Group Consciousness and Linked Fate.
abstract: Scholarship in the area of group identity has expanded our understanding of how group consciousness and linked fate operate among racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States. What is yet to be tested is whether the measures employed adequately capture the multi-dimensional theoretical constructs associated with group consciousness across racial and ethnic populations. To address this question we make use of the 2004 National Political Study (n=3,339) and apply principle components analysis and exploratory factor analysis to assess whether measures used for both group consciousness and linked fate are interchangeable, as well as whether these measures are directly comparable across racial and ethnic populations. We find that the multidimensional approach to measuring group consciousness is a sound strategy when applied to African Americans, as the dimensions fit the African American experience more powerfully than is the case for Non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics, and Asian populations. Our analysis suggests that scholars interesting in exploring group identity among the African-African population have fewer analytical concerns in this regard than those working with other populations where the underlying components associated with group consciousness appear to be operating differently.
authors.affiliation: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy at the University of New Mexico, MSC02 1645, 1 University of New Mexico, 1909 Las Lomas NE, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
authors.forename: Gabriel R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.affiliation: Center for Women's Health and Health Disparities Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, IRP, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Edward D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Vargas
keywords: Ethnicity; Group Consciousness; Group Identity; Linked Fate; Race; and Politics