TPC Journal-Vol 11-Issue-3 - FULL ISSUE

The Professional Counselor | Volume 11, Issue 3 321 research team (n = 6, 11.8%); researcher reflexivity, triangulation of data sources, thick description, and simultaneous data collection and analysis (n = 5 each, 9.8%); peer debriefing, audit trail, and member checking (n = 4 each, 7.8%); theory development (n = 3, 5.9%); and one each (2%) of external auditor, memos and/or field notes, and persistent observation. Limitations Within Sampled Studies Of the 46 empirical studies, 44 (95.7%) reported limitations. Limitations included design issues related to sampling/generalizability (n = 38, 82.6%); self-report/social desirability (n = 23, 50.0%); instrumentation (n = 20, 43.5%); research design concerns related to the ability to directly measure a variable of interest (e.g., clinical work, training activities; n = 7, 15.2%); experimenter/researcher effects (n = 3, 6.5%); use of less sophisticated statistical methods (n = 3, 6.5%); and use of an analogue design (n = 2, 4.3%). Within identified limitations, researchers most often cited limited generalizability with regard to sample composition (i.e., lack of diversity, small sample sizes, homogenous samples). Social desirability was noted as a potential limitation given the nature of the topics (i.e., racism, prejudice, privilege). Instrumentation issues pertained to weak reliability for samples, limited validity evidence, and disadvantages of self-administration. Researchers also acknowledged the difficulty of conceptualizing WRI constructs as distinct, noting the multidimensional nature of WRI and the challenge in discriminating between complex constructs. Key Findings There were three main categories of key findings. The largest category (i.e., 51 codes) consisted of identification of correlates and predictors of Whiteness/White racial identity. Findings related to gender and WRI were mixed, with several articles (n = 7) noting differences in WRI stages among men and women (i.e., women more frequently endorsing Contact and Pseudo-Independent stages, men more frequently endorsing Disintegration and Reintegration), and others determining gender differences were not significant in predicting WRI (n = 2). Additional findings included significant positive correlations and predictive effects between WRI, racism, MCC, personality variables (i.e., Openness linked with higher WRI and Neuroticism linked with lower WRI), and working alliance. Other constructs, such as ego defenses, emotional states, social–cognitive maturity, fear, and religious orientation, also demonstrated significant alignment with WRI stages. White guilt, the impact of personal relationships with communities of color, and lower levels of race salience (i.e., race essentialism) were also linked to Whiteness. The next largest category (i.e., 32 codes) related to critiques of White racial identity models and measures. Most of the conceptual articles focused in some way on this category, often criticizing WRI models as subjective and lacking in complexity, or critiquing WRI measurement and previous research because of issues of reliability and validity. Several stressed caution for interpreting WRI according to existing models, suggesting a more nuanced approach of contextualizing individuals and accounting for within-group variation. Empirical articles also suggested that achieving and maintaining higher levels of WRI, particularly anti-racist identities and attitudes, may be more difficult than originally conceptualized and may require levels of engagement that are difficult to maintain in a racist society. Training implications and impact (i.e., 24 codes), noted within empirical and conceptual studies, included tips for addressing Whiteness in counselor education (e.g., offering courses focused on Whiteness and anti-racism) and in supervision (e.g., openly discussing race, privilege, and oppression; matching supervisors and supervisees by racial identity when possible). Empirical studies noted mixed improvement in WRI stages and MCC as a result of both general progression

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