Consciousness for these two populations. For Asian populations, the leading item that drives the first factor is collective action and for White respondents, commonality drives the first factor solution. We now turn our attention to the next and arguably most important question, how does linked fate compare to the measures of group consciousness we have discussed in the previous section? Using exploratory factor analysis we include linked fate as a fourth measure of group identity along the three dimension of group consciousness. From Table 3, we find that only Blacks retained a one factor solution with the four items, with perceived discrimination continuing to explain the majority of the variance in the retained factor (60 percent)7. This suggests that linked fate and group identity are highly connected for the African American population, with discrimination serving as a major motivator for both forms group identity. While we are hesitant to suggest that these measures are interchangeable with each other for African Americans, our analysis suggests that there is less cause for concern regarding using aspects of both (or all components) in group identity scales when conducing research specific to this group. The powerful role of perceived discrimination in this analysis supports the work of Dawson (1994) and others who have suggested that discrimination is the driving force behind group identity for Blacks. Alternatively, Latinos, Asians, and Whites all retained a two factor solution when linked fate is added to the dimensions of group identity. For Hispanics, perceived discrimination explained the majority of the variation in factor 1, it is indeed linked fate that explains the majority of the variance in factor 2. Substantively, what these findings suggest is that for Blacks: collective action, commonality, perceived discrimination and linked fate are all tapping into the same general construct (i.e. group identity). For Hispanics, Asians, and Whites, these items are tapping into two distinctive constructs, suggesting that linked fate and group consciousness are definitely not inter-changeable constructs when applied to these groups. Taking a closer look at the output, we can see that for Latinos the two driving forces for these distinctive factors are perceived discrimination and linked fate and for Blacks perceived discrimination is explaining the majority of the variance in the retained factor.Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptConclusionsGroup identity has and will continue to be a central concept to social scientists generally, and particularly political scientists interested in political behavior. Consequently, it is vital for researchers to ensure that the measures we employ for analysis actually match the theoretical concepts themselves, and apply them appropriately across racial and ethnic populations. This paper is to our knowledge the first to directly compare PD150606 site levels of both7To test the robustness, we include the Caribbean Black sample into the overall Black category as well as analyze them independently, and also find a one factor solution. Polit Res Q. Author manuscript; get Aprotinin available in PMC 2016 March 01.Sanchez and VargasPagegroup consciousness and linked fate across multiple racial and ethnic groups, as well as the first to test whether the measures commonly employed for linked fate and group consciousness are capturing the same general construct when applied across these populations.Consciousness for these two populations. For Asian populations, the leading item that drives the first factor is collective action and for White respondents, commonality drives the first factor solution. We now turn our attention to the next and arguably most important question, how does linked fate compare to the measures of group consciousness we have discussed in the previous section? Using exploratory factor analysis we include linked fate as a fourth measure of group identity along the three dimension of group consciousness. From Table 3, we find that only Blacks retained a one factor solution with the four items, with perceived discrimination continuing to explain the majority of the variance in the retained factor (60 percent)7. This suggests that linked fate and group identity are highly connected for the African American population, with discrimination serving as a major motivator for both forms group identity. While we are hesitant to suggest that these measures are interchangeable with each other for African Americans, our analysis suggests that there is less cause for concern regarding using aspects of both (or all components) in group identity scales when conducing research specific to this group. The powerful role of perceived discrimination in this analysis supports the work of Dawson (1994) and others who have suggested that discrimination is the driving force behind group identity for Blacks. Alternatively, Latinos, Asians, and Whites all retained a two factor solution when linked fate is added to the dimensions of group identity. For Hispanics, perceived discrimination explained the majority of the variation in factor 1, it is indeed linked fate that explains the majority of the variance in factor 2. Substantively, what these findings suggest is that for Blacks: collective action, commonality, perceived discrimination and linked fate are all tapping into the same general construct (i.e. group identity). For Hispanics, Asians, and Whites, these items are tapping into two distinctive constructs, suggesting that linked fate and group consciousness are definitely not inter-changeable constructs when applied to these groups. Taking a closer look at the output, we can see that for Latinos the two driving forces for these distinctive factors are perceived discrimination and linked fate and for Blacks perceived discrimination is explaining the majority of the variance in the retained factor.Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptConclusionsGroup identity has and will continue to be a central concept to social scientists generally, and particularly political scientists interested in political behavior. Consequently, it is vital for researchers to ensure that the measures we employ for analysis actually match the theoretical concepts themselves, and apply them appropriately across racial and ethnic populations. This paper is to our knowledge the first to directly compare levels of both7To test the robustness, we include the Caribbean Black sample into the overall Black category as well as analyze them independently, and also find a one factor solution. Polit Res Q. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2016 March 01.Sanchez and VargasPagegroup consciousness and linked fate across multiple racial and ethnic groups, as well as the first to test whether the measures commonly employed for linked fate and group consciousness are capturing the same general construct when applied across these populations.
