White guilt should correlate with negative evaluation of one’s racial group membership.

Evidence

Following the claims of these authors, Whites with feelings of guilt should place a negative value on their racial social group. We tested this possible relationship by correlating endorsement of White guilt with feeling or evaluation thermometer ratings of Whites and with a Collective Self-Esteem Scale (CSE) (Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992). Collective self-esteem refers to the worth people place on their social groups, including their racial groups. We were particularly interested in three components of collective self-esteem that have close ties to the ideas presented in the White racial identity models. These three components of collective self-esteem were private (personal evaluations of one’s social group), public (perception of others’ evaluations of one’s social group), and identity (the value that one’s membership has to one’s self-concept). — Janet K. Swim and Deborah L. Miller, White Guilt, 30

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clearly distinguishes the three CSE components - private, public, identity - that later empirical findings will hinge on.
• XREF: The private/public/identity tripartite distinction parallels the reader’s interest in whether making dominant identity salient primes private self-evaluation or perceived-threat-based glorification. — connects to: Guilt about being White involves shame and disidentification from one’s racial group. — Janet K. Swim and Deborah L. Miller, White Guilt: Its Antecedents and…, 27; Guilt about group privilege may both require and discourage White identity — Janet K. Swim and Deborah L. Miller, White Guilt: Its Antecedents and…, 31; Guilt requires self-categorizing as a group member — Torsten Masson and Markus Barth, The identification-guilt paradox…, 20

Broader Connections

• Guilt requires self-categorizing as a group member #qualifies (0.80) — Torsten Masson and Markus Barth, The identification-guilt paradox…, 20
• Guilt about group privilege may both require and discourage White identity #expands (0.75) — Janet K. Swim and Deborah L. Miller, White Guilt, 31