An exploration of the relationship among color-blind racial attitudes, white racial identity attitudes, and social desirability in counselors-in-training utilizing fiction literature as a stimulus for cultural self-awareness

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effect of fiction literature on White racial identity attitudes and color-blind racial attitudes among White counselors-in-training. In an effort to prepare multiculturally competent counselors, counselor educators are charged with designing and testing pedagogical interventions that promote cultural self-awareness among White counselors-in-training. Fiction literature represents a promising, yet untested pedagogical tool for counselor educators. Utilizing a posttest only control group quasi-experimental design, this investigator sampled 96 White counselors-in-training enrolled in their first year of graduate study at consenting CACREP accredited and CACREP equivalent counselor training programs in the United States. White racial identity attitudes were measured by the White Racial Identity Attitudes Scale (WRIAS), while color-blind racial attitudes were assessed by the Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS). The Marlowe-Crown Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) Short Form-C was used to measure the tendency to distort oneself in a socially desirable manner.;The results indicated that (1) social desirability accounted for a statistically significant amount of the variance in color-blind racial attitudes; (2) a statistically significant relationship exists between White racial identity attitudes and color-blind racial attitudes; (3) no statistically significant difference exists between participants who receive a fiction literature stimulus and those who do not; (4) social desirability did not account for significant variance in White racial identity attitudes; and (5) no statistically significant differences exist in White racial identity attitudes or color-blind racial attitudes when testing for main effects on age, gender, and region of affiliation.;The results of this study emphasize the need for counselor educators to design and empirically validate pedagogical strategies that support racial identity development among White counselors-in-training. Further research that examines the impact of racial identity awareness on multicultural counseling competence is warranted.