Date of Conferral

12-3-2024

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Hedy Dexter

Abstract

Students accepted into college programs are granted an opportunity to develop marketable skills they can use to their advantage in a competitive job market. However, students are not always afforded equal access to these opportunities. While some colleges and universities implemented race-based affirmative action policies to mitigate discrimination in the admissions process, resistance to these policies has impeded efforts to ensure that applicants receive an equal educational opportunity. Previous studies examined various legitimizing myths, such as the myth of meritocracy and just world beliefs. Yet, no studies have determined the relative strength of social dominance orientation, belief in a just world, and colorblind racial attitudes in predicting support for race-based affirmative action policies in college admissions. Social dominance theory served as a framework to explain how racial policy attitudes are impacted by legitimizing myths that portray group disparities as normal. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to analyze the data. The findings did not reveal a significant negative relationship between social dominance orientation or belief in a just world and support for affirmative action policies. However, results revealed a significant negative relationship between endorsement of colorblind racial attitudes and support for affirmative action policies. The findings of this study may foster positive social change by revealing factors that influence support for race-based college admission affirmative action policies, potentially informing policymakers and college administrators of factors implicated in resistance to hierarchy-attenuating programs.

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