Differences in White Privilege Attitudes and Religious Beliefs Across Racial Affect Types

Abstract

This study extends research on the psychosocial costs of racism to Whites (PCRW) cluster types. We examined differences in White privilege attitudes across different PCRW cluster types in a sample of White Christian students (N = 437). We also examined differences in religious beliefs, specifically religious liberalism and sanctification of social justice, across students in different PCRW cluster types. This provides an initial intersection of PCRW cluster types, White privilege attitudes, and religious beliefs. We found that, compared with students in all other types, students in the Antiracist cluster type reported (a) higher levels of White privilege attitudes conducive to working for racial justice (i.e., willingness to confront White privilege, White privilege awareness, and White privilege remorse) and (b) higher levels of religious liberalism. We also found differences for sanctification of social justice. We discuss additional findings and implications for counseling psychologists and diversity educators working with White Christian students.

Distinguishing “I don’t see color” from “Racism is a thing of the past”: Psychological correlates of avoiding race and denying racism.

“…Consequently, we would not expect individuals to fall into mutually exclusive categories of “power evasive” or “color evasive.” Rather, we expect to find unique configurations of both variables within individuals. Researchers examining racial attitudes have used person-centered analyses to identify nuanced configurations that paint a richer understanding of racial attitudes than examining single scales in isolation (e.g., McConnell & Todd, 2015; Spanierman et al, 2009). These scholars have shown how particular variables (e.g., White guilt) operate differently in the context of other variables (e.g., empathy about racism), revealing patterns (e.g., antiracist type) that predict importance attitudes (e.g., willingness to confront privilege; McConnell & Todd, 2015).…”

“…Researchers examining racial attitudes have used person-centered analyses to identify nuanced configurations that paint a richer understanding of racial attitudes than examining single scales in isolation (e.g., McConnell & Todd, 2015; Spanierman et al, 2009). These scholars have shown how particular variables (e.g., White guilt) operate differently in the context of other variables (e.g., empathy about racism), revealing patterns (e.g., antiracist type) that predict importance attitudes (e.g., willingness to confront privilege; McConnell & Todd, 2015). The nature of potential configurations for power evasion and color evasion, however, has not yet been examined.…”

Exposure to Evidence of White Privilege and Perceptions of Hardships Among White UK Residents

“…While a number of studies explored white privilege and white fragility (Bonds and Inwood 2016;Kwate and Goodman 2014;McConnell and Todd 2015;Nkomo and Ariss 2014), the vast majority have been within the US context, resulting in a substantial lack of research regarding racism and racial bias in the United Kingdom, particularly regarding white privilege. Analysis of British national identity beliefs has shown a steep drop in the important associated with 'Whiteness' as well as British ancestry being a marker of 'being British' among individuals born since the increases in mass immigration to the United Kingdom began (Tilley et al 2004).…”

Focusing the Lens to See More Clearly: Overcoming Definitional Challenges and Identifying New Directions in Racial Microaggressions Research

“…The goal of identifying taxonomy dimensions related to the perpetration of racial microaggressions is to answer the question, “What aspects of racial microaggressions predict tolerance of and engagement in racially microaggressive behaviors?” Indeed, perpetrators may have attitudes, emotions, and behaviors related to observable microaggressive events that are important to understand to reduce commission and increase ally behavior. There is already an abundance of research focused on the psychosocial cost of racism to Whites (McConnell & Todd, 2015; Spanierman & Heppner, 2004) and color-blind racial attitudes (Mekawi et al, 2020; Neville et al, 2013; Yi et al, 2020) that provide a foundation for understanding the experience of racially dominant groups related to racism, racial privilege, and racial microaggressions. However, to date, less work has focused on aspects of specific racial microaggressions that may make perpetration more or less likely; thus, we are proposing an initial set of dimensions that are relevant for perpetrators.…”