Description

The Hawaiian Culture Scale – Adolescent Version (HCS-Adolescent) is a 50-item self-report inventory designed to measure Hawaiian ethnic identity and cultural engagement among adolescents. It evaluates how adolescents learn about, value, and maintain Hawaiian beliefs and practices, as well as their attitudes toward non-Hawaiian beliefs. Subscales cover traditional lifestyles, customs and beliefs, social activities, folklore, beliefs about causes and their locations and access, and language proficiency. Items also assess sources of cultural knowledge (e.g., family, school), language use at home, and Hawaiian blood quantum.

AI/AN Communities where the measure has been used

Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian students (high school and college) residing in Hawai‘i

Demographics of AI/AN participants where the scale has been used

Adolescents attending high school in Hawai‘i (students with Hawaiian ancestry, non-Hawaiian ancestry, and mixed ancestry backgrounds); College-aged youth (18–29 years old) on the island of Oʻahu (Nākoa, 2020)

Notes on adaptations or modifications

  1. Nākoa (2020) used only the non-subscale items (11 items) from the original 50 item inventory.

Modality and administration

Self-report;

  • High school students: administered in homeroom classes by trained teachers as part of the Hawaiian High Schools Health Survey; teachers assisted slow readers. Students provided assent, with parents providing passive consent.
  • College students: administered via an online survey link distributed through the First-Year Experience program (Nākoa, 2020).

Scoring

  • 8 items use a 5-point Likert scale (1 = “Not at all” to 5 = “Very Much”). 39 items (subscale items) use a 3-point scale (for e.g., 1 = “Unfamiliar/Don’t know,” 2 = “You understand/believe/know,” 3 = “You practice custom/You do/You believe in or support”)
  • Subscale scores are calculated for customs, lifestyle, activities, folklore, causes-location, causes-access, and language proficiency by averaging relevant items. Complete scoring instructions can be found in the Hishinuma et al. (2000) article.

Psychometric evidence

  • Strong internal consistency and validity reported for both Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian adolescents (Hishinuma et al., 2000).
  • Factor analysis confirmed subscale structure; cross-cultural comparisons supported validity.

Citation(s)

  • Hishinuma, E. S., Andrade, N. N., Johnson, R. C., McArdle, J. J., Miyamoto, R. H., Nahulu, L. B., Makini, G. K., et al. (2000). Psychometric properties of the Hawaiian Culture Scale – Adolescent Version. Psychological Assessment, 12(2), 140–157. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.12.2.140
  • Nākoa, M. N. (2020). The Influence of Self-Efficacy and Hawaiian Identity on Academic Performance among First Year Native Hawaiian Community College Students (Order No. 27962873). ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/influence-self-efficacy-hawaiian-identity-on/docview/2429005275/se-2

Disclaimer: The included citations are not exhaustive, but represent the examples we had access to. If you are an original author or have other work that could be included here, please contact us.