This report details the steps taken to construct and validate a new measure of racial

tolerance in Malaysia. Racial tolerance is defined as the extent to which one is tolerating and
accepting of people of different races. Factors such as openness to other races, interracial
acceptance in social relationships, objection towards racial prejudice and discrimination, as well
as involvement in other cultural practices were found to be relevant constructs of racial
tolerance.
This new measure serves to refine existing Western measures of racial tolerance because
there are cultural, historical and practical variations in the way racial tolerance is practiced and
understood between Western, European countries and our country, Malaysia (Ramdin, 1999,
Wemyss, 2009). In addition, the current implementation of the 1Malaysia policy by Prime
Minister Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak, which aims to establish a national identity by encouraging
closer interracial relationships among Malaysians, calls for the need to study the extent of racial
tolerance here in Malaysia (Abdullah & Salman, 2012).
As a country that was founded by forefathers of the three main, different races, i.e.
Tunku Abdul Razak, Tun V.T. Sambanthan and Tun Dato Sir Tan Cheng Lock, this country has a
rich 57 year history of multiracial diversity among its citizens. However, of late, international
and alternative media news reports have been abuzz with racial tensions arising from
dissatisfaction among the three races in areas such as employment, education, business, etc.
(Rajandran, 2013). With these contradicting views from the government, who promotes and
acknowledges Malaysia as a peaceful, multiracial nation and the general publics display of
internal racial sentiments, a measure of racial tolerance could serve as a more accurate tool to
measure the actual state of racial unity here. In addition, it could also aid various parties, such as

governing bodies, organizations and universities in their interventions for racial and cultural
acceptance.
With the implementation of the 1Malaysia program, the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri
Muhyiddin Yassin claims that we should be proud of the racial tolerance displayed amongst us.
According to him, without racial tolerance, Malaysia will not be able to stand proud like how we
are today; in other words, racial tolerance is the foundation for national unity and harmony
(theSundaily, 2012). One of the examples he gave according to this article was that all races
celebrate Thaipusam in Malaysia despite it being a Hindu festival. However, according to the
recent data provided by World Values Survey (WVS), Malaysia is one of the least racially
tolerant countries (The Washington Post, 2013). Based on this data, Asian countries that consist
of multiple racial groups, like Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia, faired lower in terms of
racial tolerance compared to their western counterparts.
Racial discrimination and prejudice can be the reasons why are not able tolerate with
people of other races. We are bound to have some preconceived negative judgement (regardless
of whether it is subtle or overt) of people who belongs to another group or class (Myers, 2010).
Back in the 1940s, the Whites and the Blacks in the USA were very distinctively segregated.
However, over the decades and the rapid onset of globalization, they seems to be a slow and
steady progress of accepting one another as they acknowledge their shared similar attitudes,
aspirations and traits such as intelligence (Myers, 2010).
On the other hand, here in Malaysia, we are still inherently segregated in many ways.
With the presence of vernacular schools, young children are still socially limited to peers of their
own race throughout their crucial developmental years, and may later on face challenges in
interacting with other races. Besides this, poignant historical events in Malaysia still serve to fuel

racial tensions among Malaysians as they are relived and remembered from time to time. Some
Malaysians are still affected by the racial riot which happened in May 1969, which resulted in
mass, senseless killings of large numbers of Chinese by Malays. Till today, the older generation
of Malaysia relate the horrors of the 1969 riots in a negative, racially fuelled manner, as they
blame the opposing race for the death of their loved ones. From time to time, speeches from
government officials relate this incident as the blackest mark in national history, implying that
being racially intolerant could lead to a repeat of such events (Kua, 2008, Rajandran, 2013).
Of late, the many racially fuelled statements by irresponsible politicians from the
governing party also serve to relive the memory of this painful event and increase racial tension
among the public. A case in point was when a government official publically asked citizens of a
less-dominant race to return to their forefathers land (Free Malaysia Today, 2013). With these
racially provocative attitudes being practiced at the governmental level; racial disharmony is
being widely promoted locally, and ironically together with the 1Malaysia concept. With these
mixed messages from the government on the subject of racial unity, there could be inherent
differences in the understanding of racial tolerance between the Western countries and Malaysia.
However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no known measure of racial tolerance that
has been created for the local context.
The most widely used racial tolerance scale in the West is the Miville-Guzman
Universality-Diversity Scale Short form (M-GUDS-S). This scale has three factors, which are
diversity of contact, appreciation of diversity and comfort with people of difference races
(Fuertes, Miville, Sedlacek & Gretchen, 2000) with a total reliability score of Cronbachs alpha =
.77. This scale was initially generated by the authors to be used in the field of multicultural
counselling, and later adapted by other fields.

However, Coletta, Lim and Kelles-Viitanen (2001) mention in their book that proposes
various methods of managing diversity in Asia, that the racial identity of any race is strengthened
by the consistent use of native language and traditional cultural practices that are unique to the
particular race. The M-GUDS-S does not include these cultural elements in their scale. Since the
most widely used language in the USA is English, tolerance for other languages was not included
in their scale. In addition, Westerners do not have distinctively different traditional clothing,
especially in the USA where the Blacks and Whites of the current generation share similar styles
of formal and informal clothing. Thus, creators of the M-GUDS-S probably did not find the need
to explore acceptance of different styles of clothing as elements of racial tolerance. Other cultural
elements not explored by the M-GUDS-S are the celebration of different festivals and the
appreciation for different foods that originate from the different races, which are an important
aspect of cultural diversity here in Malaysia.
Coletta, Lim and Kelles-Viitanen (2001) also state that for racial tolerance to be an active
social practice, society needs to be intolerant towards racial prejudice and discrimination. The MGUDS-S does not explore this factor in their scale. Hence, the present scale, with items that
explore cultural elements such as language, food, traditional clothes and cultural festivals, and
also the extent to which an individual objects to racially prejudiced attitudes and racially
discriminative acts, may be a better representation of racial tolerance here in Malaysia.
Item Generation
At the initial stage, our group worked towards understanding the meaning of racial
tolerance in Malaysia. We read up journals and articles in regards to racial tolerance, and felt that
although literature review from Western studies was helpful, they were not entirely suitable for
holistically and realistically understanding the concept of racial tolerance in Malaysia, due to its

unique multiracial diaspora. For example, research by Hartman (2000) in the USA explains racial
tolerance from mostly the dual perspective of inherent White and Black social situations, such as
the Blacks monopoly in competitive sporting and their ghetto lifestyle, in comparison to the
Whites performance in academia and their urban living styles. Thus, we decided that we lacked
content and cultural understanding as most literature is based on Western cultural constructs. In
addition, we found no local study that holistically explains racial tolerance in Malaysia in the
current context, although there were quite a few that discussed inter-ethnic tensions from a
historical perspective (Lee, 1988; Singh, 2004). Articles in the local context by Ahmad (2007)
and Guan (2005) were also more focused on religious tolerance, and this was not in line with the
psychological construct of our measure. With no crucial leads towards factors of racial tolerance
in Malaysia, we decided to explore this concept in detail via a qualitative study.
The qualitative method of semi-structured interviews was used to derive lay
intepretations of racial tolerance in Malaysia, so that we were able to procure the inherent
meaning of this concept as it is perceived by Malaysians. With the limited information we had
from Western and local literature, we brainstormed a total of 12 questions (refer to Appendix A)
questions designed to explore how Malaysians understood and experienced racial tolerance.
Some of the questions were In your opinion, what are the factors that influence racial tolerance
in Malaysia?, and How would you feel if someone of a different race showed racially
intolerant behavior?
This qualitative process involved interviewing three Malaysians of different races, i.e. a
Chinese, Malay and an Indian. We wanted a fair and just view on racial tolerance in Malaysia,
hence we ensured that opinions from these three major races were included. Each semistructured interview lasted between the ranges of 40 minutes to an hour. Each interviewee was

asked the same questions on their idea of racial tolerance, although some interviewees were
sporadically asked additional questions due to the need for better clarification. They were also
asked to comment on their understanding and feelings of living in a multi-racial country like
Malaysia, in addition to their ideas of possible factors that could improve racial tolerance, and if
they believed if racial tolerance is an important value here. They also shared the challenges they
faced when dealing with different races in various setting like work, leisure and social events.
Our participants delivered a fairly consistent understanding of racial tolerance in the Malaysian
context whereby racial tolerance means being tolerant and accepting of peoples of different
races. All three interviewees also reported that racial tolerance can be trained and developed, and
elaborated that education is the key towards building awareness of racial tolerance.
These three interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic data
analysis, which is a meticulous process of qualitative data analysis that involves the initial
painstaking segregation of data, which involves coding. Coding is the process of identifying
categories via grouping certain similar phrases together (Braun & Clarke, 2006). For example,
words and short phrases such as open to, accepting of, dont mind and willing were
identified and grouped together.
After this initial process of coding, the different groups of words and phrases were then
categorized and identified as factors. During this process, we discovered a total of nine factors,
which were openness to other races, cultural involvement, trust towards other races, past
exposure to different races, objection towards racial prejudice and discrimination, level of
proximity in social relationships, attitudes towards affirmative action policies and national pride.

The next step involved generating items for our quantitative measure of racial tolerance.
At this stage, in addition to the factors derived from the qualitative interviews, we also referred
to the M-GUDS-S (Fuertes, Miville, Sedlacek & Gretchen, 2000) to create a list of 40 questions
for our measure. The M-GUDS-S is a 15 item scale comprising of three factors, namely
Diversity of Contact, Relativistic Appreciation and Comfort with Differences. Based on these
three factors, we further added to, and refined our list of questions. For instance, the M-GUS-S
has I often listen to music from other cultures as an item under its diversity of contact factor.
From the data analysis of our qualitative interviews, we found that listening to music was not
reported as a culturally diverse activity. Our Malaysian participants reported activities such as
partaking in the different cultural festivals, enjoying foods of other cultures and being open to
wearing different traditional clothing as actions of cultural diversity. In accordance with this, we
revised the items from the M-GUDS-S to reflect the local understanding of diversity.
We also discovered that the M-GUDS-S was conceptualized to measure racial tolerance
among White and African American college students, with items such as I would like to go to
dances that feature music from other countries. We deemed these items irrelevant in measuring
racial tolerance in Malaysia, which consists of people from vastly different age groups. Thus,
these items were removed and replaced with items that were more relatable with wider age
groups such as I enjoy working with people of another race, and I am willing to accept the
services given by a person of a different race.
In addition to revising the items in the M-GUDS-S to reflect local experiences, we also
generated additional items based on factors we found in the qualitative data analysis. Thus, to
measure the factor objection to racially prejudiced attitudes, we generated questions such as

When someone of a different race makes a racially offensive statement, I am unable to accept
the remarks.
With an initial number of 40 items, we further reduced the list to 25 items because some
questions appeared to be repetitive and/or redundant, while some were deemed to be not quite
relevant to the construct of racial tolerance in the Malaysian perspective. Items such as I am
proud to be a Malaysian due to our multicultural and multiracial groups were removed. This
decision was undertaken because in reference to face validity, such questions did not appear to be
related to the construct of racial tolerance. Additional care was taken to reverse-code some
questions to prevent aye/nay saying. Items were also arranged thoughtfully to prevent order
effect. In addition, this 25 item questionnaire was further presented to the initial interviewees in
order to ascertain their validity. This process of validation will be discussed in detail in the
statistical validation section.
Data Collection
With this 25 item questionnaire, we proceeded to procure participants via convenience
sampling, due to the limited time constraints of this assignment and the effort to obtain
participants that were not limited to students of HELP University. Since there were six of us in
the group, we each enlisted approximately 15 individuals to partake in this study. The
questionnaire was administered by both paper-pencil surveys and online formats sent via email
and social media.
Subjects were required to be citizens of Malaysia and aged 18 years old and above.
Besides that, they were required be English literate as the questionnaire was designed in the
English language. We obtained a total 89 participants, with ages ranging from 18 to 56 years old.

This distribution may have been a fair representation of the wide age distribution among the
Malaysian population. However, we were unable to ascertain the extent of this representation to
the true population as we were not able to obtain the statistics for age distribution among
Malaysians.
Due to the method of convenience sampling used, we failed to obtain the proportion of
race reflective of the Malaysian population, i.e. 67% Malays, 25% Chinese, 7% Indians, and 1%
of other races (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2011). Our sample consisted of a larger
proportion of Chinese, i.e. 69 subjects. This was followed by 14 Indians, five Malays and one
Eurasian. We ensured that all subjects met the requirements of this study. After scanning through
the data, we identified 89 completed and usable data sets. There was no incomplete response as
well as outliers, hence we did not undergo the process of discarding data.
Statistical Validation
Validity
Validity according to Cohen, Swerdlik and Sturman (2013) is known as the estimate of
how a test adequately measures what it claims to measure. It is important for the measure to be
valid so that the results of the measure can be interpreted accurately. In the current study, the
validity of this measure was assessed based on its face validity and its content validity. Face
validity refers to how the measure appears to the person being tested rather than what the test
actually measures while content validity is known as the estimate on how the test adequately
measures the behaviour which is representative of the entire range of possible behaviours that the
test might cover (Cohen, Swerdlik & Sturman, 2013). It is important for the measure to have

high face validity because, if the measure does not appear to be relevant to the person being
tested, it might yield inaccurate responses.
Hence, in order to measure the face validity of this current Racial Tolerance
Questionnaire, the item clarity and wording were checked and reviewed among the group
members. 40 items were written by the researchers (refer to Appendix B); however, after
reviewing the items, 25 items were chosen (refer to Appendix C). Potentially ambiguous items
were either refined or removed (e.g: I embrace living in a diverse culture like Malaysia, I put my
guard up when I am around people of a different race). This was done to ensure appropriate
understanding of each item in the Racial Tolerance Questionnaire. The revised set of 25 items
was then presented to one of the three interviewees. The interviewee was asked to pick out any
items which are ambiguous or unclear, and reported a good understanding of all the 25 items.
Based on the review by the researchers and the interviewee, the items in the Racial Tolerance
Questionnaire appeared to be relevant to the participants.
Besides this, the content validity was also examined. Data analysis from the qualitative
interviews highlighted the wide array of behaviours displayed by the racially tolerant individual.
An individuals willingness to engage in various activities with those from a different race, an
individuals verbal expression towards a racially intolerant individual and an individuals
perception of another race were examples of behaviours which are representative of the entire
range of possible behaviours that a person who is racially tolerant might portray. Based on these
reports, the items of the Racial Tolerance Questionnaire were constructed. Therefore, the items in
the Racial Tolerance Questionnaire should encompass behaviours which are representative of the
entire range of possible behaviours of a racially tolerant person.

Reliability
Apart from measuring the validity of the Racial Tolerance Questionnaire, the reliability of
the Racial Tolerance Questionnaire was also measured. According to Cohen, Swerdlik and
Sturman (2013), reliability is defined as the consistency of measurement. In measuring the
reliability alpha of the Racial Tolerance Questionnaire, a reliability analysis was conducted in
SPSS.
Table 1
Reliability statistics for the 25 items Racial Tolerance Questionnaire
Cronbach's Alpha

Number of Items

.840

25
Based on the reliability analysis, the 25 items in the Racial Tolerance Questionnaire were

highly reliable at .84. Looking at the scale if item deleted function, the reliability alpha of the
25 items in the Racial Tolerance Questionnaire would still remain in the range of .80 to .85 even
after an item is removed. Therefore, the removal of an item out from the 25 item racial tolerance
questionnaire would not influence the reliability alpha of the items in the Racial Tolerance
Questionnaire. Hence, all the items portrayed a good degree of reliability.
Table 2
Reliability statistics for the 21 items Revised Racial Tolerance Questionnaire
Cronbach's Alpha

Number of Items

.829

21

Meanwhile, looking at the reliability analysis of the 21 items Revised Racial Tolerance
Questionnaire where five items were removed from the Racial Tolerance Questionnaire because
some of the items did not contribute to a simple structure, the Cronbach Alpha is still high which
is .829, where it would be .83 when it is rounded up. The reliability is still high even though
there is a slight drop of .01 when compared to the previous 25 items Racial Tolerance
Questionnaire. Looking at the scale if item deleted function, the reliability alpha of the 21
items in the Revised Racial Tolerance Questionnaire would remain in the range of .81 to .84 even
after an item is removed. Hence, despite a lower range of reliability alpha in the Revised Racial
Tolerance Questionnaire as compared to the Racial Tolerance Questionnaire, the reliability alpha
is still relatively high with the removal of an item from the 21 item Revised Racial Tolerance
Questionnaire. Therefore, this removal would not influence the reliability alpha of the items in
the Racial Tolerance Questionnaire. This shows that the items portray a good degree of
reliability.
Exploratory Factor Analysis
A factor analysis using principal axis factoring (PAF) with orthogonal rotation was
conducted to identify the underlying dimensions and the common variance of the 25 item Racial
Tolerance Questionnaire. An orthogonal rotation was used as the factors in the Racial Tolerance
Questionnaire were assumed to be uncorrelated (Field, 2009). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure
of sampling adequacy was .785 which is good according to Field (2009). Values of KMO
between 0.7 and 0.8 are good values as these values would reflect that the sample size used in the
current research is adequate for factor analysis (Field, 2009). Therefore, since the KMO value is .
785, the researchers are confident that the sample size used in the current research is adequate for

an exploratory factor analysis. Besides that, the Bartletts test of sphericity is significant where,
2 (300) = 1149.73, p < .001. This indicates that the factor model is appropriate.
Table 3
Communalities for the 25 item Racial Tolerance Questionnaire

Initial

Extraction

.571

.405

My intentions can be misunderstood by friends from a different race. .370

.283

Friends from my own race understand me better.

.422

.497

I feel safer being around with someone of the same race.

.480

.577

I am willing to be in a relationship with someone of a different race.

.491

.416

I am willing to work with someone of a different race.

.669

.707

I am willing to learn about other races and their cultures.

.665

.658

When someone of a different race makes a racially offensive

.749

.758

When someone of the same race makes a racially offensive statement, .742

.755

I am willing to share my personal information with someone of a

different race.

statement, I am unable to accept the remarks.

I am unable to accept the remarks.

When someone of a different race behaves in a racially discriminative .712

.771

manner, I will tell him/her off.

When someone of the same race behaves in a racially discriminative

.716

.784

I occasionally look out for my own race first.

.539

.513

I often attend open houses by people of different races during their

.587

.699

I am comfortable dressing in the traditional attire of different cultures. .535

.502

I enjoy eating all the different foods that originate from different

.532

.439

I know quite a lot about the different cultural practices of Malaysians. .452

.391

I understand that some cultural practices of other races may be

.784

manner, I will tell him/her off.

festival celebrations.

cultures.

different from mine.

.624

Based on the communalities for the 25 items Racial Tolerance Questionnaire presented in
Table 3, extracted communalities below .40 were removed because those factors do not fit well
with the factor solution as the items do not share common variances with the other items in the
scale (Field, 2009). Hence, the following items, My intentions can be misunderstood by friends
from a different race, I know quite a lot about the different cultural practices of Malaysians,
When people of other races talk in their own language when I am around, I get annoyed, and I
am willing to learn another races mother tongue were removed because the extracted
communalities were below .40. Hence, those items do not share some common variance with the
other items in the scale. Looking at the following indicators, an exploratory factor analysis was
deemed suitable for the remaining 21 items.
Upon conducting another factor analysis using the principal axis factoring (PAF) with
orthogonal rotation for the remaining 21 items of the Revised Racial Tolerance Questionnaire,
the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy showed an increase which was .792. The
KMO value is in the range of 0.7 and 0.8 which is a good value. Besides, the Bartletts test of
sphericity is significant where, 2 (210) = 1014.132, p < .001. Finally, the communalities were all
above or equal to .4 which further confirms that each items shared similar variance with one
another. Only one item from the 21 items from the Revised Racial Tolerance Questionnaire
which is, I find other cultural beliefs other than mine, irrelevant had communality of .385.
However, the items communality is not too low as to warrant deletion.
The analysis extracted five factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0. The first factor
accounted for 29.94% of the total variability in scores while the second factor accounted for
11.71% of variability in scores. Meanwhile, the third, fourth and fifth factor accounted for
8.35%, 4.47% and 3.12% of variability in scores respectively. Based on the scree plot, results

suggested that there are also five factors as the eigenvalues on the scree plot began to level up
after the fifth factor. Lastly, based on the percentage of variance rule, the cumulative variability
in the scores accounted by the five factors is 57.59%. Therefore, based on the findings from the
eigenvalues greater than one rule, scree plot and the percentage of variance rule, the researchers
decided that five factors should be retained from the exploratory factor analysis.
Based on the rotated factor loading table, only one item cross loaded with two factors. The
item, I enjoy eating all the different foods that originate from different cultures showed a
primary loading of .43 and .45 in both factor one and factor four respectively. In order to deal
with the item, an oblique rotation was conducted. However, results shown after oblique rotation
suggests more cross loading of items among the factors. Therefore, the researchers decided to
remove the item, I enjoy eating all the different foods that originate from different cultures.
Even though one of the items cross loads with different factors, the remaining 20 items showed a
primary factor loading of .4 and above.
All in all, these results suggest the presence of five factors. They are labelled as Openness
(with relatively high loadings for items which portray willingness to be accepting of different
races), Interracial Acceptance in Social Relationships (with relatively high loadings for items
which portray interracial acceptance in intimate social relationships), Objection towards Racial
Prejudice (with relatively high loadings for items which portray intolerance towards racially
prejudiced beliefs), Objection towards Racial Discrimination (with relatively high loadings for
items which portray intolerance towards racially discriminative behavior), and Cultural
Participation (with relatively high loadings for items which portray engagement in different
cultural activities). Therefore, these findings show that the final 20 item Racial Tolerance
Questionnaire (refer to Appendix D) was able to identify an individuals racial tolerance based on

the following distinct factors, Openness, Interracial Acceptance in Social Relationships,

Objection towards Racial Prejudice, Objection towards Racial Discrimination and Cultural
Participation.
Conclusion
This newly-developed racial tolerance measure displays high validity and reliability
characteristics. In comparison to the only other known, existing racial tolerance scale, i.e. MGUS-S, this current scale would be more relevant to the Malaysian culture. Governments,
organizations, and educational institutions may be able to assess the level of racial tolerance in
the population, and subsequently take the necessary steps to improve racial tolerance, such as
introducing more effective policies, generating awareness of cultural diversity, and applying
interventions that enhance racial acceptance.
Other potential usefulness of this scale could be in the area of industrial psychology. With
rapid globalization being the norm in most organizations, willingness to embracing diversity is a
necessary attribute (Timmerman, 2000). This scale could be useful in assessing the tolerance
level of possible candidates and current employees, and thus reduce racially intolerant practices
in these organizations. Besides this, the counselling field may also find this scale useful because
multicultural competence is a vital attribute for counsellors (Vera & Speight, 2003). Adopting
this scale to test the tolerance level of new and professional counsellors may reduce client
dropouts that arise from counsellors multicultural incompetence.
A severe limitation in the development of this scale was the sampling method, which
resulted in an unrepresentative sample of the Malaysian population. Random sampling methods
could have provided more accurate results as it would have included a wide range of participants

from different geographical locations, socioeconomic status, educational level, racial and age
backgrounds, etc. Due to time constraints, only one interviewee was employed to assess the
clarity of the items. This very limited perspective from one, single individual was probably not
sufficient to ascertain the clarity of the items, as feedback from other participants indicated that
some of the items lacked clarity. For this reason, another limitation of this study was the absence
of a pilot study prior to distributing our questionnaire, which could have been useful to gauge the
comprehensiveness of our items and the language used in the questionnaire.
In conclusion, this racial tolerance measure could be useful in advancing psychological
research and practice in the local context as it is the first tool to measure this phenomenon in
accordance with Malaysians understanding of racial tolerance. With the dual strategy of refining
from the existing Western scale, and exploring the concept of racial tolerance qualitatively
among Malaysians, this scale seems to the first sound measure of racial tolerance and could be
the benchmark for racial diversity studies conducted locally.

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Appendix A
Semi Structured Interview
Q1: How would you explain the idea of racial tolerance?
Q2: In your opinion, what are the factors that influence racial tolerance in Malaysia?
Q3: How do you feel about living in this multi-racial country?

Q4: Would you consider Malaysians to be racially tolerant towards one another?
Q5: Can you elaborate on why (or not)?
Q6: How would you feel if someone of a different race showed racially intolerant behavior?
Q7: What would your reaction be to this person?
Q8: What are other factors that could promote racial tolerance among us?
Q9: What are the factors that hinder racial tolerance?
Q10: In your experience, what are some of the challenges faced while dealing with people of
other races?
Q11: What are the advantages of being racially tolerant?

Q12: Are there any disadvantages?

Appendix B
40 items Racial Tolerance Questionnaire
Sex: M / F
Race:

Age:
INSTRUCTIONS
The following statements concern opinions and feelings that you may hold towards
another person. With respect to the following situations, indicate the extent to

which you agree or disagree with each statement by writing in the number that best
expresses your opinion or feeling according to the scale below.
1 = Strongly Disagree 2 = Disagree 3 = Neither Disagree nor Agree
4 = Agree 5 = Strongly Agree

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

As a multiracial country, it is important for us to be tolerant towards one

another.
I believe Malaysians to be generally racially tolerant towards one another
As a nation, there is a lot to be gained if we are all racially tolerant towards
one another
I feel safer sharing personal information with people of the same race
compared to ppl of different race (R)
My intentions can be misunderstood by friends from a different race (R)
Friends from my own race understand me better (R)
When people of the same race are around me, I generally feel safer
compared to being around people of a different race (R)
I would consider a relationship with someone of a different race
Studying/working with people from the same race is more comfortable for
me (R)
When someone of a different race makes a racially offensive statement, I
usually ignore his/her remark
When someone of the same race makes a racially offensive statement, I
usually ignore his/her remark
When someone of a different race behaves in a racially discriminative
manner, I will tell him/her off (R)
When someone of the same race behaves in a racially discriminative manner,
I will tell him/her off (R)
I believe that everyone looks after their own race first
I believe myself to be racially tolerant
I occasionally do look out for my own race first (R)
In my childhood years, I often interacted with people of different races
I often attend open houses by people of different races during their festival
celebration
I am comfortable dressing in the traditional attire of different cultures.
I enjoy eating all the different foods that originate from different cultures.
I know quite a lot about the different cultural practices of Malaysians.
I understand that some cultural practices of other races may be different from
mine.
When people of other races talk in their own language when I am around, I
get annoyed (R)
I think it is unfair when people of a different race get more educational
opportunities in universities (R)
I would not be upset when people of a different race get additional

______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______

______
______

26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.

organizational benefits
I would be happier people of my own race get more educational
opportunities in universities(R)
When people of other races talk in their own language when I am around, I
get annoyed (R)
I think it is unfair when people of a different race get more educational
opportunities in universities (R)
I enjoy working with people of another race.
I believe the current affirmative policies for bumiputera citizens are fair
I embrace living in a diverse culture like Malaysia.
Growing up, I was taught by my parents to respect racial differences.
I believe that there are great benefits in a diverse group at a workplace.
I find myself wanting to know more about other races and their culture.
I find other cultural beliefs other than mine, irrelevant (R).
I would like to learn more languages in order to communicate with others
from a different race in Malaysia.
I am proud to be a Malaysian due to our multicultural and multiracial groups.
I am jealous of the benefits and opportunities that other race might have that
I may not.
I put my guard up when I am around people of a different race.
Everything will run smoother if we work with people of our own race.

Appendix C
25 items Racial Tolerance Questionnaire
Age:

Sex:

M/F

Race:

______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______

INSTRUCTIONS
The following statements concern opinions and feelings that you may hold towards
another person. With respect to the following situations, indicate the extent to
which you agree or disagree with each statement by writing in the number that best
expresses your opinion or feeling according to the scale below.
1 = Strongly Disagree 2 = Disagree 3 = Neither Disagree nor Agree
4 = Agree 5 = Strongly Agree

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

I am willing to share my personal information with someone of a different

race.
My intentions can be misunderstood by friends from a different race.
Friends from my own race understand me better (R).
I feel safer being around with someone of the same race (R).
I am willing to be in a relationship with someone of a different race.
I am willing to work with someone of a different race.
I am willing to learn about other races and their cultures.
When someone of a different race makes a racially offensive statement, I am
unable to accept the remarks (R).
When someone of the same race makes a racially offensive statement, I am
unable to accept the remarks (R).
When someone of a different race behaves in a racially discriminative
manner, I will tell him/her off (R).
When someone of the same race behaves in a racially discriminative manner,
I will tell him/her off (R).
I occasionally look out for my own race first (R).
I often attend open houses by people of different races during their festival
celebrations.
I am comfortable dressing in the traditional attire of different cultures.
I enjoy eating all the different foods that originate from different cultures.
I know quite a lot about the different cultural practices of Malaysians.
I understand that some cultural practices of other races may be different from
mine.
When people of other races talk in their own language when I am around, I
get annoyed.
I find other cultural beliefs other than mine, irrelevant.
I am willing to learn another races mother tongue.
I am willing to hire an employee of a different race.
I am willing to help another individual of a different race.
I enjoy working with people of another race.
I am willing to accept the services given by a person of a different race.
I am willing to accept advice from someone of another race.

______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______

______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______

Appendix D
20 items Racial Tolerance Questionnaire
Age:

Sex:

M/F

Race:

INSTRUCTIONS
The following statements concern opinions and feelings that you may hold towards another
person. With respect to the following situations, indicate the extent to which you agree or
disagree with each statement by writing in the number that best expresses your opinion or feeling
according to the scale below.
1 = Strongly Disagree

2 = Disagree 3 = Neither Disagree nor Agree

4 = Agree 5 = Strongly Agree

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

I am willing to share my personal information with someone of a different

race.
Friends from my own race understand me better (R).
I feel safer being around with someone of the same race (R).
I am willing to be in a relationship with someone of a different race.
I am willing to work with someone of a different race.
I am willing to learn about other races and their cultures.
When someone of a different race makes a racially offensive statement, I am
unable to accept the remarks (R).
When someone of the same race makes a racially offensive statement, I am
unable to accept the remarks (R).
When someone of a different race behaves in a racially discriminative
manner, I will tell him/her off (R).
When someone of the same race behaves in a racially discriminative manner,
I will tell him/her off (R).
I occasionally look out for my own race first (R).
I often attend open houses by people of different races during their festival
celebrations.
I am comfortable dressing in the traditional attire of different cultures.
I understand that some cultural practices of other races may be different from
mine.
I find other cultural beliefs other than mine, irrelevant.
I am willing to hire an employee of a different race.
I am willing to help another individual of a different race.
I enjoy working with people of another race.
I am willing to accept the services given by a person of a different race.
I am willing to accept advice from someone of another race.

______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______

Appendix E
SPSS Output: Exploratory Factor Analysis for 25 items Racial Tolerance Scale
Cronbach Alpha Reliability Output
Case Processing Summary
N
Cases

Valid
Excludeda
Total

%
89

98.9

1.1

90

100.0

a. Listwise deletion based on all variables in the procedure.

Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha
.840

N of Items
25

Item-Total Statistics

I am willing to share my personal information with someone of

Scale Mean if

Scale Variance if

Corrected Item-Total

Cronbach's Alpha if

Item Deleted

Item Deleted

Correlation

Item Deleted

87.3034

104.759

.555

.827

88.4607

111.524

.221

.840

Friends from my own race understand me better.

88.5056

108.844

.313

.837

I feel safer being around with someone of the same race.

88.0562

105.963

.409

.833

I am willing to be in a relationship with someone of a different

87.7753

103.926

.476

.830

I am willing to work with someone of a different race.

86.7978

108.481

.577

.829

I am willing to learn about other races and their cultures.

86.7753

108.517

.518

.830

When someone of a different race makes a racially offensive

88.4157

108.382

.317

.837

88.4270

113.043

.110

.847

88.6404

114.051

.097

.845

88.7191

118.818

-.121

.853

I occasionally look out for my own race first.

88.1348

107.050

.354

.836

I often attend open houses by people of different races during

87.3371

107.817

.400

.833

87.1910

105.861

.495

.830

86.7303

107.426

.587

.828

87.3483

107.775

.482

.831

86.7079

111.209

.376

.835

88.0225

112.886

.112

.847

I find other cultural beliefs other than mine, irrelevant.

87.0449

109.293

.405

.833

I am willing to learn another race's mother tongue.

87.3146

106.423

.517

.829

I am willing to hire an employee of a different race.

86.9326

106.609

.609

.827

I am willing to help another individual of a different race.

86.7865

105.761

.738

.824

I enjoy working with people of another race.

87.1798

108.126

.574

.829

I am willing to accept the services given by a person of a

86.9888

107.579

.589

.828

a different race.
My intentions can be misunderstood by friends from a different
race.

race.

statement, I am unable to accept the remarks.

When someone of the same race makes a racially offensive
statement, I am unable to accept the remarks.
When someone of a different race behaves in a racially
discriminative manner, I will tell him/her off.
When someone of the same race behaves in a racially
discriminative manner, I will tell him/her off.

their festival celebrations.

I am comfortable dressing in the traditional attire of different
cultures.
I enjoy eating all the different foods that originate from
different cultures.
I know quite a lot about the different cultural practices of
Malaysians.
I understand that some cultural practices of other races may
be different from mine.
When people of other races talk in their own language when I
am around, I get annoyed.

different race.

Factor Analysis (Principal Axis Factoring with Orthogonal Rotation) Output

KMO and Bartlett's Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy.
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity

Approx. Chi-Square

.785
1149.726

df

300

Sig.

.000

Communalities
Initial
I am willing to share my personal

Extraction
.571

.405

.370

.283

.422

.497

.480

.577

.491

.416

.669

.707

.665

.658

.749

.758

.742

.755

.712

.771

.716

.784

I occasionally look out for my own race first.

.539

.513

I often attend open houses by people of

.587

.699

.535

.502

.532

.439

.452

.391

.624

.784

information with someone of a different

race.
My intentions can be misunderstood by
friends from a different race.
Friends from my own race understand me
better.
I feel safer being around with someone of
the same race.
I am willing to be in a relationship with
someone of a different race.
I am willing to work with someone of a
different race.
I am willing to learn about other races and
their cultures.
When someone of a different race makes a
racially offensive statement, I am unable to
accept the remarks.
When someone of the same race makes a
racially offensive statement, I am unable to
accept the remarks.
When someone of a different race behaves
in a racially discriminative manner, I will tell
him/her off.
When someone of the same race behaves
in a racially discriminative manner, I will tell
him/her off.

different races during their festival

celebrations.
I am comfortable dressing in the traditional
attire of different cultures.
I enjoy eating all the different foods that
originate from different cultures.
I know quite a lot about the different cultural
practices of Malaysians.
I understand that some cultural practices of
other races may be different from mine.

Total Variance Explained

Initial Eigenvalues
% of Variance

Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings

Cumulative %

Factor

Total

7.436

29.742

29.742

7.056

28.223

28.223

5.310

21.242

21.242

2.816

11.264

41.006

2.541

10.165

38.388

2.025

8.099

29.340

2.237

8.947

49.953

1.842

7.367

45.755

1.794

7.174

36.515

1.424

5.698

55.651

1.057

4.228

49.983

1.759

7.037

43.552

1.320

5.278

60.929

.836

3.342

53.325

1.721

6.884

50.436

1.179

4.715

65.645

.696

2.785

56.109

1.218

4.871

55.307

1.001

4.005

69.650

.626

2.502

58.612

.826

3.305

58.612

.890

3.560

73.210

.842

3.367

76.577

10

.776

3.102

79.680

11

.671

2.682

82.362

12

.587

2.349

84.711

13

.581

2.324

87.035

14

.496

1.984

89.019

15

.438

1.751

90.770

16

.393

1.573

92.343

17

.361

1.444

93.787

18

.333

1.333

95.120

19

.247

.987

96.107

20

.229

.916

97.022

21

.206

.825

97.847

22

.173

.693

98.540

23

.154

.615

99.154

24

.131

.523

99.678

25

.081

.322

100.000

Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring.

Total

% of Variance

Cumulative %

Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings

Total

% of Variance

Cumulative %

Rotated Factor Matrixa

Factor
1

I am willing to share my personal information with someone of a different race.

.490

.255

.009

-.019

.273

.146

.065

My intentions can be misunderstood by friends from a different race.

.199

.109

-.125

-.151

.147

.064

.409

Friends from my own race understand me better.

.065

.624

-.090

-.098

.069

.046

.281

I feel safer being around with someone of the same race.

.098

.728

.091

.079

.004

.113

-.100

I am willing to be in a relationship with someone of a different race.

.219

.539

.078

.187

.189

.020

-.031

I am willing to work with someone of a different race.

.641

.138

-.115

.014

.317

.176

-.365

I am willing to learn about other races and their cultures.

.638

.078

-.208

-.015

.236

.244

-.292

When someone of a different race makes a racially offensive statement, I am unable to

.170

.100

.202

.821

-.014

-.008

-.061

-.065

.071

.280

.805

-.020

-.110

-.081

.123

-.096

.803

.290

-.119

.026

-.048

-.230

.012

.816

.221

-.100

-.010

-.076

I occasionally look out for my own race first.

.137

.617

-.251

.047

.164

-.124

.080

I often attend open houses by people of different races during their festival celebrations.

.128

.189

-.257

.171

.710

-.055

.211

I am comfortable dressing in the traditional attire of different cultures.

.268

.203

-.149

.046

.568

.187

.080

I enjoy eating all the different foods that originate from different cultures.

.433

.225

.004

.097

.406

.163

.004

I know quite a lot about the different cultural practices of Malaysians.

.445

.043

-.052

.275

.194

.183

.201

I understand that some cultural practices of other races may be different from mine.

.491

-.039

-.178

.039

-.080

.708

-.024

When people of other races talk in their own language when I am around, I get annoyed.

.083

.000

.021

-.180

.336

-.044

-.031

I find other cultural beliefs other than mine, irrelevant.

.292

.132

.247

-.204

.164

.601

.116

I am willing to learn another race's mother tongue.

.451

.276

.085

-.104

.260

.053

-.056

I am willing to hire an employee of a different race.

.862

.047

-.042

-.019

.126

-.018

.011

I am willing to help another individual of a different race.

.808

.187

.077

-.053

.306

.060

-.031

I enjoy working with people of another race.

.596

.175

-.074

.050

.137

.094

.326

I am willing to accept the services given by a person of a different race.

.829

.032

-.028

.035

-.066

.240

.235

I am willing to accept advice from someone of another race.

.763

.122

-.020

.133

-.013

.148

.221

accept the remarks.

When someone of the same race makes a racially offensive statement, I am unable to
accept the remarks.
When someone of a different race behaves in a racially discriminative manner, I will tell
him/her off.
When someone of the same race behaves in a racially discriminative manner, I will tell
him/her off.

Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring.

Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 10 iterations.

Rotated Factor Matrixa

Factor
1
I am willing to share my personal

.503

information with someone of a

different race.
Friends from my own race

.676

understand me better.
I feel safer being around with

.617

someone of the same race.

I am willing to be in a relationship

.518

with someone of a different race.

I am willing to work with someone of

.608

a different race.
I am willing to learn about other

.631

races and their cultures.

When someone of a different race

.823

makes a racially offensive statement,

I am unable to accept the remarks.
When someone of the same race

.868

makes a racially offensive statement,

I am unable to accept the remarks.
When someone of a different race

.757

behaves in a racially discriminative

manner, I will tell him/her off.
When someone of the same race

.827

behaves in a racially discriminative

manner, I will tell him/her off.
I occasionally look out for my own

.621

race first.
I often attend open houses by

.618

people of different races during their

festival celebrations.
I am comfortable dressing in the

.600

traditional attire of different cultures.

I enjoy eating all the different foods

.431

that originate from different cultures.

I understand that some cultural

.645

practices of other races may be

different from mine.
I find other cultural beliefs other than

.454

.449