Colorblind Attitudes and Religious Fundamentalism as Predictors of Racial and General Campus Climate Perceptions

The present study aimed to understand the racial differences in perception of general and racial campus climate in college students, and investigate if colorblind attitudes and religious fundamentalism help explain these differences. A sample of 2,101 undergraduate students (MAGE=19.59, SDAGE= 2.33) attending a private, Christian college in Southern California served as participants in this correlational survey research. The sample consisted of 37.9% male (n=796), 62% female (n=1303), and 0.1% other (n= 2). The following racial/ethnic groups were represented in the sample: 3.4% Black (n= 72), 18.7% Asian (n= 392), 8.1% Latino/Hispanic (n= 171), 1.2% Middle Eastern (n= 25), 0.3% Native American (n= 6), 0.6% Pacific Islander (n= 12), 50.9% White (n= 1069), 1.4% Other (n= 30), 13.5% Biracial (n= 283), and 2% chose not to respond (n= 41). Results demonstrated significant differences in perceptions of general and racial climate between Whites and minorities. Colorblind attitudes were found to predict perceptions of general and racial campus climate (including racial experiences and university perceptions) (p\u3c .001), but religious fundamentalism only predicted general campus climate perceptions and perceptions of the university (p\u3c .001). The implications of this research are that some racial differences in perceptions of campus climate may be rooted in colorblind attitudes and religious fundamentalism. These implications may be relevant to higher education administrators seeking to find points of intervention to improve college campus climates. Key words: Campus Climate, Colorblind Attitudes, Religious Fundamentalism, Higher Educatio