Abstract

The present study describes the psychometric development and validation of the Hawaiian Ethnocultural Inventory (HEI), an ethnocultural survey of Native Hawaiian ethnic identity that measures the degree to which individuals are knowledgeable of, believe in, and engage in culturally relevant practices of the Hawaiian heritage. Construction of the instrument was influenced by extant research and previous recommendations suggesting that measures of acculturation and ethnic identity include broad categories or factors that assesses specific cultural practices, customs, and beliefs. The HEI was administered to an adult population of Native Hawaiians, N = 237. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a five factor structure that included the following: (1) Beliefs in Hawaiian Cultural Practices, (2) Knowledge of Hawaiian Cultural Practices, (3) Frequency of Performing Arts, (4) Frequency of Ocean Traditions, and (5) Frequency of Spiritual and Family Customs. The factors collectively accounted for 61% of the total variance and reliability estimates for the five factors were uniformly high ranging from .85–.97. Subsequent 1-Way ANOVA's and post-hoc analyses posited significant between group differences between HEI factors and demographic variables. In conclusion, the data provides supporting evidence of the instrument's construct validity and scale reliability as a measure of Native Hawaiian ethnic identity that may be a useful tool for research among Native Hawaiians in an array of health fields.