Feminism and Mexican American adolescent women - Examining the psychometric properties of two measures

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Feminist Identity Development Scale (FIDS) and the Attitudes Toward Feminism and the Women's Movement Scale (FWM) with 389 Mexican American 11th-grade and 12th-grade women. Results indicated internal consistency coefficients of .61, .62, .76, and .77 for the FIDS Passive Acceptance, Revelation, Embeddedness-Emanation, and Active Commitment subscales, respectively, and .67 for the FWM. Mexican American high school women scored significantly differently on the feminism scales when compared to samples from previously published studies. Results from factor analyses failed to support the previously published FIDS factor structure. A two-factor model of feminist attitudes was identified with the factors being labeled Feminist Orientation and Traditional Orientation. Implications for the assessment of feminist attitudes and feminist identity with Mexican American adolescent women are discussed.