Modern Racism Attitudes Among White Students: The Role of Dominance and Authoritarianism and the Mediating Effects of Racial Color-Blindness

ABSTRACT

Among 342 white college students, we examined the effects of social dominance orientation (SDO), right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), and racial color-blindness on modern racism attitudes. Structural equation modeling was used to test the indirect effects of SDO and RWA on modern racism attitudes through color-blind racial attitudes. We found strong indirect effects of SDO and RWA on modern racism through racial color-blindness. We did not find support for an alternative model, in which we tested racial color-blindness as a moderator of the effects of SDO and RWA on modern racism. Findings suggest that highly dominant and authoritarian white students endorse color-blind racial attitudes, although likely for different reasons. In turn, this predicts their modern racism attitudes. These findings indicate racial color-blindness is important to address as part of anti-racism education.

Keywords:

• color-blind racial attitudes
• prejudice
• racism
• right-wing authoritarianism
• social dominance orientation

Notes

1. Among the included measures, the only significant difference between the three participant samples was on the CoBRAS, F (2, 336) = 7.92, p < .001, = .05: residence hall students reported higher CoBRAS than did those recruited through undergraduate courses (p < .01).