White privilege boosts affirmative-action support only through White guilt, while discrimination beliefs do not.

Evidence

The mediational tests recommended by Baron and Kenny (1986) indicated that White guilt mediated the relationship between White privilege and attitudes toward affirmative action (see Table 2). The direct relationship between White privilege and attitudes toward affirmative action was marginally significant (p = .06); the indirect path from White privilege to attitudes toward affirmative action, controlling for White guilt, was not significant, and the direct and indirect paths were significantly different from each other. In contrast, the mediational tests did not support the argument that White guilt would mediate the relationship between beliefs about the prevalence of discrimination and attitudes toward affirmative action (see Table 2). — Janet K. Swim and Deborah L. Miller, White Guilt, 102

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Beliefs about White privilege drive affirmative-action attitudes only through White guilt. — Janet K. Swim and Deborah L. Miller, White Guilt: Its Antecedents and…, 67; White guilt mediates privilege’s effect on affirmative action attitudes but not discrimination beliefs’ effect. — Janet K. Swim and Deborah L. Miller, White Guilt: Its Antecedents and…, 102

Broader Connections

• White guilt mediates privilege’s effect on affirmative action attitudes but not discrimination beliefs’ effect. #corroborates (0.95) — Janet K. Swim and Deborah L. Miller, White Guilt, 102