Christian Nationalism and Anticipated Costs of Addressing White Privilege as Predictors of Prototypicality Threat and Opposition to Racial Reparative Policies among White Americans

<title>Abstract</title> <p> Despite the growing public discourse around racial equity and reparative justice, White Americans’ responses to race-based equity efforts remain deeply divided. Drawing on Social Dominance Theory, the current study utilizes data collected from a sample of 222 White Americans ( <italic>M</italic> _{<italic>age</italic>} = 25 to 34) to examine how Christian nationalist beliefs and anticipated costs for addressing White privilege relate to prototypicality threat (e.g. feeling threatened by demographic change in the US) and opposition to reparative policies benefitting Black Americans, with attention to gender differences. The analyses indicated that White Americans who perceived greater anticipated costs associated with addressing White privilege exhibited elevated levels of resistance towards race-based reparative policies. White men who endorsed higher levels of Christian nationalism reported higher levels of resistance towards race-based reparative policies. Anticipated costs associated with addressing White privilege was also predictive of endorsing higher levels of prototypicality threat. For White men and women, endorsing higher anticipated costs associated with addressing White privilege was associated with higher levels of prototypicality threat, with White men reporting higher levels in comparison to White women. White women who endorsed lower levels of Christian nationalism reported lower levels of prototypicality threat. Collectively, these findings indicate that White Americans’ responses to racial equity initiatives are less influenced by demographic characteristics and more by the perceived costs associated with group status, pre-existing privileges, and Christian nationalist beliefs. </p>