Cultural mismatch theory of inequality and associated research indicates that a mismatch between independent cultural norms of institutions of higher education and students’ interdependent backgrounds account for disparities in academic achievement for students from historically underrepresented groups. Despite growing interest in interventions to reduce cultural mismatch, there was not yet a comprehensive measure of cultural match. We developed and validated the Cultural Match Scale (CMS) composed of 24 Likert-scale items. The CMS measures Navigation of Institutional Culture, Connection to Community, and Connection to Institutional Values. Data from 858 participants were utilized to obtain validity and reliability evidence. Three factors with a general method factor for all negatively worded items showed the best fit. Consistent with the prior findings, relationships with four criterion measures showed medium to large magnitudes of correlations. Reliability was acceptable to excellent levels. The use of the CSM was discussed along with the needs for future research.
American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, National Council on Measurement in Education, and Joint Committee on Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. (2014). Standards for educational and psychological testing. American Educational Research Association.
2.
AndermanE. M.UrdanT.RoeserR. (2005). The patterns of adaptive learning survey: History, development, and psychometric properties. In Indicators of positive development conference (pp. 223–235). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-23823-9_14
3.
BartramD. (2013). Scalar equivalence of OPQ32: Big Five profiles of 31 countries. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44(1), 61–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022111430258
BentlerP. M.BonettD. G. (1980). Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88(3), 588–606. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.88.3.588
BrowneM. W.CudeckR. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In: BollenK.LongJ. (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136-162). Sage.
8.
ComreyA. L.LeeH. A. (1992). First course in factor analysis. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
9.
DeVellisR. F.ThorpeC. T. (2022). Scale development: Theory and applications (5th ed.). Sage Publications.
10.
DiStefanoC.MotlR. W. (2006). Further investigating method effects associated with negatively worded items on self-report surveys. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 13(3), 440–464. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328007sem1303_6
11.
FrymierA. B.ShulmanG. M.HouserM. (1996). The development of a learner empowerment measure. Communication Education, 45(3), 181–199. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634529609379048
12.
HarackiewiczJ. M.CanningE. A.TibbettsY.GiffenC. J.BlairS. S.RouseD. I.HydeJ. S. (2013). Closing the social class achievement gap for first-generation students in undergraduate biology. Journal of Educational Psychology, 106(2), 375–389. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034679
13.
HechtC. A.PriniskiS. J.TibbettsY.HarackiewiczJ. M. (2021). Affirming both independent and interdependent values improves achievement for all students and mitigates cultural mismatch for first-generation college students. Journal of Social Issues, 77(3), 851–887. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12416
14.
HuL. T.BentlerP. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
15.
JuryM.SmedingA.StephensN. M.NelsonJ. E.AeleneiC.DarnonC. (2017). The experience of low-SES students in higher education: Psychological barriers to success and interventions to reduce social-class inequality. Journal of Social Issues, 73(1), 23–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12202
16.
KlineR. B. (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford Press.
17.
MacCallumR. C.BrowneM. W.SugawaraH. M. (1996). Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling. Psychological Methods, 1(2), 130–149. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.1.2.130
MarkusH.KitayamaS. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98(2), 224–253. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033–295X.98.2.224
MessickS. (1989). Validity. In LinnR. L. (Ed.), Educational measurement (3rd ed., pp. 13–103). American Council on Education and MacMillan.
22.
MessickS. (1995). Validity of psychological assessment: Validation of inferences from persons’ responses and performances as scientific inquiry into score meaning. American Psychologist, 50(9), 741–749. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.50.9.741
23.
MidgleyC.MaehrM. L.HrudaL.AndermanE. M.AndermanL.FreemanK. E.GheenM.KaplanA.KumarR.MiddletonM. J.NelsonJ.RoeserR.UrdanT. (2000). Manual for the Patterns of adaptive learning scales (PALS). University of Michigan.
24.
MidgleyC.MaehrM. L.UrdanT. (1993). Manual for the Patterns of adaptive learning survey (PALS). University of Michigan.
25.
MuthénL. K.MuthénB. O. (1998-2017). Mplus user’s guide (8th ed.). Muthén and Muthén.
26.
NunnallyJ.BernsteinL. (1994). Psychometric theory. McGraw-Hill Higher, Inc.
27.
PhillipsL. T.StephensN. M.TownsendS. S. M.GoudeauS. (2020). Access is not enough: Cultural mismatch persists to limit first-generation students' opportunities for achievement throughout college. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 119(5), 1112–1131. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000234
28.
PhinneyJ. S.DennisJ.OsorioS. (2006). Reasons to attend college among ethnically diverse college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 12(2), 347–366. https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.12.2.347
29.
RafteryA. E. (1995). Bayesian model selection in social research. Sociological Methodology, 25, 111–163. https://doi.org/10.2307/271063
30.
R Core Team. (2022). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org/
31.
SkaggsG. (2022). Test development and validation. Sage Publications, Inc.
32.
StephensN. M.FrybergS. A.MarkusH. R.JohnsonC. S.CovarrubiasR. (2012). Unseen disadvantage: How American universities’ focus on independence undermines the academic performance of first-generation college students. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(6), 1178–1197. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027143
33.
StephensN. M.HamedaniM. G.DestinM. (2014). Closing the social-class achievement gap: A difference-education intervention improves first-generation students' academic performance and all students' college transition. Psychological Science, 25(4), 943–953. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613518349
34.
StephensN. M.TownsendS. S. M. (2015). The norms that drive behavior: Implications for cultural mismatch theory. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46(10), 1304–1306. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022115600264
35.
StephensN. M.TownsendS. S. M.DittmannA. G. (2019). Social-class disparities in higher education and professional workplaces: The role of cultural mismatch. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28(1), 67–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721418806506
36.
StephensN. M.TownsendS. S. M.HamedaniM. G.DestinM.ManzoV. (2015). A difference-education intervention equips first generation college students to thrive in the face of stressful college situations. Psychological Science, 26(10), 1556–1566. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615593501
37.
TibbetsY.HarackiewiczJ. M.CanningE. A.BostonJ. S.PriniskiS. J.HydeJ. S. (2016). Affirming independence: Exploring mechanisms underlying a values affirmation intervention for first generation students. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 110(5), 635–659. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000049
38.
TownsendS. S. M.StephensN. M.SmalletsS.HamedaniM. G. (2019). Empowerment through difference: An online difference-education intervention closes the social class achievement gap. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(7), 1068–1083. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218804548
39.
TylerK. M.UqdahA. L.DillihuntM. L.Beatty-HazelbakerR.ConnerT.GadsonN.HughesT.MulderS.OwensE.Roan-BelleC.SmithL.StevensR.HenchyA. (2008). Cultural discontinuity: Toward a quantitative investigation of a major hypothesis in education. Educational Researcher, 37(5), 280–297. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X08321459
40.
WaltonG. M.CohenG. L. (2005). Excluded: Social identity incompatibility undermines motivation. Manuscript in preparation.
41.
WaltonG. M.CohenG. L. (2007). A question of belonging: Race, social fit, and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(1), 82–96. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.1.82
42.
WolfE. J.HarringtonK. M.ClarkS. L.MillerM. W. (2013). Sample size requirements for structural equation models: An evaluation of power, bias, and solution propriety. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 76(6), 913–934. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164413495237
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
