Psychosocial costs of racism to Whites: Understanding patterns among university students.

Abstract

This investigation adds to the growing body of scholarship on the psychosocial costs of racism to Whites (PCRW), which refer to consequences of being in the dominant position in an unjust, hierarchical system of societal racism. Extending research that identified five distinct constellations of costs of racism (Spanierman, Poteat, Beer, & Armstrong, 2006), we used multinomial logistic regression in the current study to examine what factors related to membership in one of the five PCRW types during the course of an academic year. Among a sample of White university freshmen (n = 287), we found that (a) diversity attitudes (i.e., universal diverse orientation and unawareness of privilege) explain PCRW type at entrance; (b) PCRW type at entrance explained participation in interracial friendships at the end of the year; (c) 45% of participants changed PCRW type during the course of the year; and (d) among those who changed type, particular PCRW types at entrance resulted in greater likelihood of membership in particular PCRW types at the end of the year. Keywordscosts of racism to Whites; White racial attitudes; White guilt; racial empathy As historically White colleges and universities1 become increasingly racially diverse and campus initiatives are implemented to address racial insensitivity expressed by White students, it is important to understand the variety and complexity of White students' racial attitudes and experiences. Research is needed that not only addresses expressions of White racism (i.e., expressions that are embedded in discriminatory institutional practices and widely socialized racist ideologies; Feagin & Vera, 1995) among White students, but also examines how White students react to and are affected by White racism on campus throughout their educational experiences. Recent scholarship on the psychosocial costs of racism to Whites provides a promising framework by which to understand White students' reactions to White racism and how such reactions affect their campus diversity engagement. Thus, the current investigation builds on a recent study that identified five distinct categorizations of costs of racism to Whites (Spanierman, Poteat, Beer, & Armstrong, 2006) Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lisa B. Spanierman, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois, 226 Education Building MC-708, Champaign, IL 61820.: lbspan@illinois.edu. Lisa Spanierman is an Associate Professor and Carolyn Anderson is a Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois. Nathan Todd is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychology at the same institution. Publisher's Disclaimer:The following manuscript is the final accepted manuscript. It has not been subjected to the final copyediting, fact-checking, and proofreading required for formal publication. It is not the definitive, publisher-authenticated version. The American Psychological Association and its Council of Editors disclaim any responsibility or liabilities for errors...

Diversity Experiences and Intergroup Attitudes

“…Analyses of the MSS data found a relationship between diversity experiences and greater perspective taking among White students (Gurin et al, 2004). Similarly, students with more diversity-course enrollment showed more empathy regarding prejudice (Spanierman, Todd, & Anderson, 2009) and greater enthusiasm for learning about new perspectives (Gottfredson et al, 2008). Taken together with the mediation studies involving willingness to consider other perspectives and related variables, these data suggest a promising role for perspective taking and empathy in mediating the diversity experience-intergroup attitude relationship.…”

White response to potentially discriminatory actions in a services setting

“…While blacks make up approximately 13% of the U.S. population and therefore represent a large enough group to create the potential for large losses stemming from discriminatory acts, recent research by Spanierman and colleagues (Spanierman & Heppner, 2004;Spanierman et al, 2008;Spanierman, Todd, & Anderson, 2009) suggests that yet another party may be harmed by marketplace discrimination: the white majority. Clearly, viewing discrimination is not the same as being discriminated against, yet understanding the broader effect of discrimination beyond the impact on direct participants (e.g., blacks) merits understanding.…”

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

“…In addition, this research replicated the five-cluster type structure across independent samples ) and also found a similar five-cluster structure for both men and women . Moreover, some college students may shift cluster type during the first year of college, with different types being more likely to make certain shifts (e.g., Empathic and Unaccountable and Fearful Guilt more likely to shift to Antiracist; Spanierman et al, 2009). Clearly, PCRW cluster types provide a useful framework for understanding White students.…”