Psychosocial costs of racism to whites: Exploring patterns through cluster analysis

Lisa B. Spanierman, V. Paul Poteat, Amanda M. Beer, Patrick Ian Armstrong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

69 Scopus citations

Abstract

Participants (230 White college students) completed the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites (PCRW) Scale. Using cluster analysis, we identified 5 distinct cluster groups on the basis of PCRW subscale scores: the unempathic and unaware cluster contained the lowest empathy scores; the insensitive and afraid cluster consisted of low empathy and guilt scores, with the highest score on fear; the fearful guilt cluster exhibited elevations on guilt and fear; the empathic but unaccountable cluster reflected high empathy with low guilt and fear; and the informed empathy and guilt cluster represented those high on empathy and guilt in conjunction with low levels of fear. Groups were validated on an additional sample (n = 366) and were found to differ significantly on theoretically related measures.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)434-441
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of counseling psychology
Volume53
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2006
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Cluster analysis
  • Costs of racism to Whites
  • White guilt
  • White racial attitudes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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