Alyssa Engle

Date Approved

2025

Degree Type

Open Access Senior Honors Thesis

Department or School

Psychology

First Advisor

Stephen Jefferson, Ph.D

Second Advisor

Heather Janisse, Ph.D

Third Advisor

Natalie Dove, Ph.D

Abstract

This study examined how symbolic racism, political conservativism, and White racial identity predicts attitudes toward climate change among White Americans. Prior research suggests that racial resentment vaticinates social and political judgments beyond explicitly racial domains, including environmental issues and policies which disproportionately harm Black and marginalized communities. Building on this prior research, the present study investigated whether racial identity dimensions predict climate change distress, and whether symbolic racism mediates associations between conservative political orientation and climate concern. Seventythree White undergraduate students completed measures of racial identity, symbolic racism, distrust in climate science, political conservatism, and climate distress. As predicted, a negative association was found between symbolic racism and climate change distress, indicating that participants who endorsed higher levels of racial resentment reported less concern about the impacts of climate change. Of the racial identity components measured, only racial salience was significantly related to climate distress. Neither anti-dominant identity nor ethnocentricity predicted climate distress, and racial ethnocentricity did not moderate the link between symbolic racism and climate attitudes. Mediation analyses supported the hypothesis that symbolic racism helps explain why more conservative participants reported lower levels of climate distress. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that racial resentment plays an influential role in shaping White Americans’ responses to climate change.

Download

Included in

Psychology Commons

Share

COinS