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Perceived Discrimination Scale
Measuring Mobility Toolkit > Measure Selector > Perceived Discrimination Scale
Perceived Discrimination Scale
Factor: Being Valued in Community
Age: Adult
Duration: 3-5 minutes
Reading Level: 6th-8th grade
What
Developed by Williams, Yu, Jackson, & Anderson (1997), the 20-item Perceived Discrimination Scale measures how often people feel that others treat them badly or unfairly on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, physical appearance, sexual orientation, or other characteristics. The scale covers discrimination in different areas of life, including at school, at work, and in one’s neighborhood.
Who
Researchers have tested the Perceived Discrimination Scale with a large national sample of adults across all ages, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds (Kessler et al., 1999). Researchers have used the Daily Discrimination subscale with respondents across multiple ethnicities (including White, Black, Asian, Native Americans, and Latinx), education levels, and socioeconomic backgrounds (Williams et al., 1997).
How
INSTRUCTIONS
The 20-item Perceived Discrimination Scale has two subscales: The Lifetime Discrimination Scale and the Daily Discrimination Scale. Respondents complete the 11-item Lifetime Discrimination scale by indicating how many times they have been treated unfairly over the course of their lives (e.g., “You were discouraged by a teacher or advisor from seeking higher education”). To score this scale, researchers add the number of events that happened at least once for the respondent. Higher scores on this scale mean more experiences of lifetime discrimination.
The 9-item Daily Discrimination scale captures respondents’ experiences with unfair treatment in their day-to-day lives (e.g., “You are treated with less courtesy than other people”). Respondents complete the Daily Discrimination Scale by indicating how often they feel discriminated against on a 1 to 4 scale (1 = often; 2 = sometimes; 3 = rarely; 4 = never). To score this scale, researchers reverse code all items and add the scores together, so that higher scores mean more frequent experiences of discrimination.
RESPONSE FORMAT
This survey uses multiple answer formats. Please see the Google document for more information.
Instructions: How many times in your life have you been discriminated against in each of the following ways because of such things as your race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, physical appearance, sexual orientation, or other characteristics? Write the number of times each event occurred next to each statement for questions 1-11 and circle your response for questions 12-20.
1. You were discouraged by a teacher or advisor from seeking higher education.
2. You were denied a scholarship.
3. You were not hired for a job.
4. You were not given a promotion.
5. You were fired.
6. You were prevented from renting or buying a home in the neighborhood you wanted.
7. You were prevented from remaining in a neighborhood because neighbors made life so uncomfortable.
8. You were hassled by the police.
9. You were denied a bank loan.
10. You were denied or provided inferior medical care.
11. You were denied or provided inferior service by a plumber, car mechanic, or other service provider.
12. You are treated with less courtesy than other people.
13. You are treated with less respect than other people.
14. You receive poorer service than other people at restaurants or stores.
15. People act as if they think you are not smart.
16. People act as if they are afraid of you.
17. People act as if they think you are dishonest.
18. People act as if they think you are not as good as they are.
19. You are called names or insulted.
20. You are threatened or harassed.
Why It Matters
People who are discriminated against are more likely to feel depressed, nervous, restless, hopeless, and sad (Kessler et al., 1999). Other research has found that discrimination is related to poor physical and mental health, high body mass index (BMI), and chronic health problems (e.g., stroke, asthma, and heart disease; Edwards, 2008). Mental and physical health problems can interfere with people’s ability to work, and so discrimination can make it that much harder for those living on a low income to move out of poverty.
Using the daily discrimination subscale alone, researchers find that higher scores are associated with worse health (Williams et al., 1997) and more unpleasant emotions (Bierman, 2006). However, research has also found that there are ways to reduce the damage of daily discrimination. For instance, being religious protects African-Americans from the feelings of sadness and hopelessness that discrimination brings about for others (Bierman, 2006).
HEADS UP
Researchers often use the Lifetime Discrimination and Daily Discrimination subscales together, but they can also be used separately.
While higher Perceived Discrimination scores are associated with worse mental health, it does not necessarily mean that discrimination causes bad mental health. Researchers do not know whether perceived discrimination causes worse mental health or some third force causes both.
References
Bierman, A. (2006). Does religion buffer the effects of discrimination on mental health? Differing effects by race. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 45(4), 551–565.
Edwards, R. R. (2008). The association of perceived discrimination with low back pain. Journal of Behavioral Medicine,31(5), 379–389.
Kessler, R. C., Mickelson, K. D., & Williams, D. R. (1999). The prevalence, distribution, and mental health correlates of perceived discrimination in the United States. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 40(3), 208-230.
Williams, D. R., Yu, Y., Jackson, J. S., & Anderson, N. B. (1997). Racial differences in physical and mental health: Socio-economic status, stress and discrimination. Journal of Health Psychology, 2(3), 335–351.
