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.