White guilt, White shame: Are they real? Can we measure them?

What is it about?

In this study we assessed the convergent, criterion-related, and incremental evidence for construct validity of the White guilt, White shame, and White negation factors of the White Racial Affect Scale (WRAS; Grzanka et al., 2020). As part of this investigation we used a video stimulus to trigger state White guilt and shame in participants to assess whether the White guilt and White shame factors of the WRAS predicted the state versions of these emotions over and above trait guilt and shame. Many of the results replicated the findings from the original validation paper (Grzanka et al., 2020) and provided further evidence for construct validity by examining the relationship of the scale factors to related state emotions. We found strong evidence of construct validity for the White guilt and negation factors and mixed evidence for the White shame factor.

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Why is it important?

The results of this paper provide strong evidence for the construct validity of the White guilt and White negation factors of the WRAS (Grzanka et al., 2020) and mixed evidence for construct validity of the White shame factor. Post-hoc face-validity analyses of the individual items of the White guilt scale show that some of the items may capture aspects of shame (e.g., feeling sad or feeling "small"). It is possible that White guilt and shame are not easily separated and it may be more accurate to conceptualize "White guilt" or "White shame" as a general negative self-focused affect that includes aspects of both emotions. If this is the case, interventions that help engage White individuals in racial justice work may need to include strategies that address feelings of guilt by providing action-steps White individuals can take to address the behavioral focus that typically accompanies guilt (e.g., "I did something bad and must make up for it"). These interventions likely also need to include strategies that target feelings of shame as well (e.g., "I am a bad person because I have been complicit in racism").