Examining gender and critical consciousness in the associations between White privilege attitudes and system-legitimizing ideologies in White college students.

Abstract

We examined the associations between White Privilege Attitudes Scale (WPAS) and two system-legitimizing ideologies, social dominance orientation and anti-immigrant attitudes, among 819 White American college students (63.2% women). Gender and critical consciousness were examined as potential moderators in these links. T tests assessed group differences in study variables based on gender. Direct associations between WPAS, system-legitimizing ideologies, and two-way interactions between gender and critical consciousness were examined via path analyses. White women reported significantly higher rates of WPAS and critical consciousness and significantly lower rates of system-legitimizing ideologies than White men. WPAS confront was negatively associated, and WPAS cost was positively associated with system-legitimizing ideologies. Significant positive two-way interactions were found between WPAS Cost × Gender and WPAS Cost × Critical Consciousness for system-legitimizing ideologies. Our findings identified distinct patterns between WPAS and system-legitimizing ideologies among White college students. The anticipated costs of addressing White privilege may serve as a barrier against reducing system-legitimizing ideologies, particularly among White men. Willingness to confront White privilege may be associated with lower system-legitimizing ideologies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).