AT THE CROSSROADS - RACIAL AND WOMANIST IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT IN BLACK-AND-WHITE WOMEN

This study explored the hypothesis that womanist identity and racial i dentity development are related. The racial identity and womanist iden tity attitudes of 214 women were measured using the Black Racial Ident ity Attitude Scale, the White Racial Identity Attitude Scales (WRIAS), and the Womanist Identity Attitude Scale. Canonical correlation analy sis was used to determine the nature of relationships among racial ide ntity and womanist identity attitudes. Results showed that for Black w omen there was a significant relation between racial identity and woma nist identity attitudes. Specifically, Internalization attitudes on th e WRIAS were positively related to Level II (Encounter) and Level IV ( Internalization) attitudes on the Womanist Identity Attitude Scale. De spite a larger number of White participants, no such relationship emer ged for White women. Implications for theory, research, and counseling are discussed.