The mediating effect of dispositional mindfulness upon the relationship between right-wing authoritarianism/social dominance orientation and anti-Black prejudice

Systemic racial inequality in the forms of wealth disparity and the achievement gap between Black and White populations remains pervasive in America. Anti-Black prejudice, or the overall antipathy towards Black people, is at the heart of why such inequalities exist. There is a vast body of research that has attempted to address interventions that mitigate prejudice among individuals. Some of these studies have utilized the concept of Dispositional Mindfulness (DM), or one’s propensity to draw attention to the here and now. Studies investigating the link between DM and prejudice have yielded mixed results, with some studies suggesting that mindfulness is directly connected to forms of prejudice and other studies suggesting that there is an indirect connection between mindfulness and prejudice. The current study examined the relations between Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) (traits that have established connections to anti-Black prejudice), anti-Black prejudice, and Dispositional Mindfulness (DM) using a mediation model. DM did not significantly mediate the relationship between RWA/SDO and anti-Black Prejudice. Moderate to strong positive correlations were found between RWA and anti-Black Prejudice, SDO and anti-Black Prejudice, DM and RWA, and a weak correlation was observed between SDO and DM. These results of study suggest that mindfulness is an insufficient means of addressing racial prejudice and highlights the importance of explicit teachings in the areas of racial history, prejudice, and prejudice intervention in educational curricula.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

School Psychology

Grantor

Texas Woman's University

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Ramesh, Ashwin

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Kim, Samuel

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Smith, Gabrielle
• Palomares-Fernandez, Ronald

• Prejudice
• Personality
• Racism
• Anti-Black prejudice
• Mindfulness

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/11274/16890

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:twu-ir.tdl.org:11274/16890