The Influence of Racial Ideology Types on the Mental Health of Black American College Students
Racial ideology can best be described as the lens through which individuals and systems view and interpret issues related to race and racism. The structure of this lens is multidimensional and constantly being refocused to reflect the current views of society. The purpose of this study was to identify multidimensional racial ideology types among 190 Black college students. Three types were uncovered: Racially Aware Autonomous, Racial Comfort Assimilationist, and Racial Unawareness. The findings were based on k-means cluster analysis from the following measurements: Color-blind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS), Ethnic Identity Scale (EIS), and Other-Group Orientation Scale (OGO). A relationship was found between the racial ideology types identified and life satisfaction, specifically, the Racial Comfort Assimilationist cluster had a greater satisfaction with life when compared to the Racial Awareness Autonomous cluster. However, no differences were found in relation to mental health and the racial ideology types.
School:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department:
Psychology
Research Advisor:
Dr. Helen A. Neville
Department of Research Advisor:
Educational Psychology
Year of Publication:
2004