Race in Cyberspace: College Students' Moral Identity and Engagement With Race-Related Issues on Social Media

• In Event: 42.047 - Intersections of Typology and Identity

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a quantitative study exploring social media usage among college students, focusing on their engagement with race-related issues online and examining whether this engagement is related to moral identity. Multiple regression analyses with data from 47 White and 43 Black college students found that frequent social media use and race were the most significant predictors of online responses to race-related issues and that, among White students, there was a strong positive association between high symbolization of moral identity and engagement with race-related issues online. Employing the social cognitive model of moral identity as a framework, we propose that the context of social media may be impacting how college students experience morality.

Authors

• Vandna Gill, North Carolina State University

• Jessica T. Decuir-Gunby, North Carolina State University