Attitudes toward Asian Americans: Theory and measurement

A theoretical framework to account for Whites' attitudes toward Asian Ameri cans was developed and tested in 3 studies. An Attitude Toward Asians (ATA) scale was developed and found to be valid and reliable. Consistent with th e framework, a negative factor and a positive factor were found to underlie attitudes toward Asian Americans. As expected, negative attitudes were sho wn to stem from both negative and positive instrumental attributes, whereas positive attitudes stemmed from positive instrumental and noninstrumental attributes. Predictions regarding emotional reactions to Asian Americans an d attitude ambivalence were supported. Attitudes toward Asian Americans wer e also shown to influence judgments of African Americans. Implications and future research directions are discussed.