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Who is More Likely to “Not See Race”? Individual Differences in Racial Colorblindness

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Abstract

Many Americans endorse a colorblind racial ideology, meaning they strive to “not see race” and emphasize sameness and equal distribution of resources across racial lines. Currently, there is an absence of studies examining the personality and individual difference correlates of racial colorblindness. The current study investigated the association between three different aspects of racial colorblindness (unawareness of racial privilege, unawareness of institutional discrimination, and unawareness of blatant racism) and the Big 5, empathy, and aggression in white undergraduates. Our results revealed two divergent patterns. Unawareness of racial privilege was related to lower openness and perspective taking, but more empathic concern, whereas unawareness of blatant racism and unawareness of institutional discrimination were related to lower agreeableness, perspective taking, and empathic concern. These results are discussed in relation to the broader literature on prejudice and personality.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, IL, 61820, USA

    Yara Mekawi, Konrad Bresin & Carla D. Hunter

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  1. Yara Mekawi
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  2. Konrad Bresin
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  3. Carla D. Hunter
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Correspondence to Yara Mekawi.

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Mekawi, Y., Bresin, K. & Hunter, C.D. Who is More Likely to “Not See Race”? Individual Differences in Racial Colorblindness. Race Soc Probl 9, 207–217 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-017-9211-3

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