Predicting Student Attitudes About Racial Diversity and Gender Equity

Cokley, Kevin O.
Tran, Kimberly
Hall-Clark, Brittany
Chapman, Collette
Bessa, Luana
Finley, Angela
Martinez, Michael

¹Department of Educational Psychology and Department of African and African Diaspora Studies, University of Texas at Austin
²Texas State University Counseling Center
³Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin

Kevin O. Cokley, 1 University Station D5800, Austin, TX 78712 [email protected]

Submission March 31, 2010. Revision May 24, 2010. Accepted May 24, 2010.

Journal of Diversity in Higher Education 3(3):p 187-199, September 2010. | DOI: 10.1037/a0020467

Factors related to attitudes about racial diversity and gender equity were examined in an ethnically diverse sample of 432 college students (167 European Americans, 83 African Americans, 81 Asian Americans, and 82 Hispanic Americans). In addition to variables of self-interest (i.e., ethnicity, gender, and political views), social ideology (i.e., social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism) and personality traits (openness to experience) were uniquely predictive of attitudes about racial diversity and gender equity. Hierarchical regressions revealed that social dominance orientation most strongly predicted racial attitudes, while right-wing authoritarianism most strongly predicted gender attitudes. Implications for diversity education efforts related to prejudice reduction are discussed.