Remembering where we’re from: Community and individual predictors of college students’ White privilege awareness

Awareness of White privilege is associated with greater support for affirmative action and greater engagement in racial justice action (Pinterits et al., 2009; Yi et al., 2020). With notable exceptions (e.g., Spanierman et al., 2009), research has typically investigated White privilege awareness as an individual-level variable, though evidence suggests that residential environments may also influence racial attitudes (Brittian Loyd & Gaither, 2018; Glaser, 1994; Hagerman, 2020). In this study, we combine survey and U.S. Census data to explore both individual- and community-level predictors of White privilege awareness. With a sample of 1,285 White college students, we found that gender, modern racism, social dominance orientation, and subjective socioeconomic status (SES) significantly predicted White privilege awareness. After accounting for these individual-level variables, we found that some characteristics of students’ hometowns (defined by zip code) continued to predict White privilege awareness. More specifically, greater income inequality was associated with higher White privilege awareness, while greater White racial homogeneity was marginally associated with lower White privilege awareness. There was a significant interaction between community-level White racial homogeneity and individual-level subjective SES, such that students with high subjective SES and low White racial homogeneity had the highest White privilege awareness. This study highlights the importance of examining how different facets of ecological context matter in relation to White Americans’ racial attitudes.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2020

Author dc:creator

• Blevins, Emily Jade

Contributors dc:contributor

• Todd, Nathan R

• racial attitudes
• ecological systems
• socioeconomic status
• neighborhood

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2020 Emily Blevins

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/108631

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/108631