Researcher ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9362-2021

Graduation Year

2026

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Psychology

Reader 1

Jennifer Ma

Reader 2

Steffanie Guillermo

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

@ Aida Kassa

Abstract

The proposed study examines how institutional context shapes the relationship between Belief in a Just World (BJW), internalized racism, and perceived discrimination among Black upperclassmen attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). Although prior research documents contrasting racial climates across these settings, little work has examined how such environments align with the belief systems students use to interpret inequality. Participants will complete measures of BJW, internalized racism, perceived discrimination, and demographics. It is expected that students at HBCUs will report slightly higher BJW than those at PWIs, that internalized racism will positively predict BJW, and that perceived discrimination will weaken this association. Additionally, the internalized racism-BJW link is expected to be stronger at HBCUs, and a three-way interaction is anticipated, such that the combined influence of internalized racism and perceived discrimination on BJW differs across institutional contexts. This proposed study can provide clarity on the role college environments play in reinforcing or challenging ideas about merit by focusing on cognitive belief systems. In particular, how these environments may moderate Black students’ propositional attitudes toward systemic and non-systemic inequality.

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