Abstract

The assessment of an individual’s level of racism is important in a racially divided country, especially when assessing those in positions of power who are responsible for making fair and impartial decisions across race groups. The Modern Racism Scale (MRS) (McConahay 1986) is a measure of racial prejudice, and is often used in research in matters relating to this issue. However, the MRS is not useful in the South African context, as the items refer to concerns typical of the American situation, including the premise that racism is always directed towards black people. In this paper the process of adapting the MRS for South African conditions is described. Two versions of the MRS are presented: one measuring racism against black people, and the other measuring racism against white people. Evidence on the reliability and validity of the instruments is reported Results regarding reliability, bias on scale and item level, and central statistics are presented (N=184; N=166). Suggestions on the possible use of the instruments and future research are provided.