Although token responses have been studied greatly, there is a lack of a valid and reliable instrument that measures how token employees perceive and cope with the effects of being a token. The current study addresses a research gap by developing and validating a scale for token consciousness, conceptualized as the dispositional mindset used to navigate a token environment and mitigate its negative outcomes. Exploring the nomological network of related constructs, and using a multi-step, multi-stage methodology, the token conscious scale (TCS) was verified using two different samples of women. The analyses resulted in a nine-item original scale with strong psychometric properties, confirmatory factor analyses supported the a priori structure, evidence for the validity of the TCS was found, and the scale exhibited good model fit. The development of the TCS has important implications for the field, as it may contribute to future research for comprehending token experiences in the workplace by serving as a validated instrument to assess the awareness and perspective of token employees.
