Author ORCID Identifier:

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5033-0639

Date of Graduation

9-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Psychological Science

Advisor/Mentor

Bridges, Ana

Committee Member

Ivan Vargas

Third Committee Member

Michael Niño

Keywords

Critical Consciousness; Mental Health; Racism; Wellbeing

Abstract

Racism confers numerous measurable health risks for people of color. Interventions to mitigate the impact of racism on health are necessary and important to reduce disease burden and improve health outcomes for people of color. While communities of color have developed resiliency tactics that have allowed them to survive, even thrive, in the face of racial oppression, the evaluation and promotion of promising tools that counteract racism’s negative impacts are essential (Phillips et al., 2015). Critical consciousness is just such a tool. Research with children suggests it holds promise (Diemer et al., 2016; Heberle et al., 2020; Maker-Castro et al., 2022); lacking is attention to whether critical consciousness develops and functions similarly in adults. The current studies aim to expand the field’s understanding of critical consciousness in adults. Study 1 was a qualitative study using a semi-structured interview of adult participants of color who experienced race-based discrimination and scored high on a measure of critical consciousness. The 12 interviews highlighted six themes that indicated that education and discrimination can help precipitate the development of critical consciousness, critical consciousness development can be painful and almost like a grief process, and critical consciousness development can be associated with various aspects of identity. Study 2 evaluated quantitative data from 260 adults (18 – 40 years) of color who reside in the United States. Participants in Study 2 completed a variety of measures that includes measures of critical consciousness development, racial identity, racial attitudes, mental health, and well-being. Results suggested that a three-factor model (i.e., critical reflection, critical motivation, and critical action) is the best representation of critical consciousness among this sample. I added questions from Study 1 to create a new and more robust short critical consciousness scale (i.e., the Adjusted Short Critical Consciousness Scale). Correlations between critical consciousness factors and various outcome measures suggest that critical action and critical motivation measure unique constructs. Meanwhile, critical reflection seems to overlap theoretically with other measures relevant to awareness of oppression. Critical reflection and critical motivation were associated with higher levels of negative mental health outcomes and lower levels of positive health outcomes and well-being. Overall, these two studies add to the critical consciousness literature by 1) creating an adjusted and more robust critical consciousness scale, 2) providing insight into how critical consciousness develops, 3) highlighting unique features related to identity and critical consciousness development in adults of color, and 4) expanding our theoretical understanding of critical consciousness as a construct among adults of color. These findings help lessen the gap in the critical consciousness literature among adults. The implications of this study suggest that while critical consciousness development may disrupt the negative associations between racism and health, we still need more research with adult samples.

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