Racial Battle Fatigue Among Black Undergraduates: Examining the Role of General, Academic, and Racial Campus Climates

Hostile campus climates contribute to racial violence and stress in U.S. higher education and evoke racial battle fatigue (RBF) among Black students. This study investigates the relationships between perceptions of general, academic, and racial campus climates and RBF among Black undergraduate students. Participants included 368 Black undergraduate students who attended one predominantly white university and completed an online survey. Data were analyzed using four hierarchical multiple regression models to determine if Black undergraduates’ perceptions of general, academic, and racial campus climates predicted physiological RBF (model 1), psychological RBF (model 2), physio-behavioral RBF (model 3), and psycho-behavioral RBF (model 4), respectively. Findings indicated more positive perceptions of general campus climate significantly predicted lower levels of psychological and psycho-behavioral RBF. More positive perceptions of academic campus climate significantly predicted lower levels of physiological, psychological, physio-behavioral, and psycho-behavioral RBF. Finally, more positive perceptions of racial campus climate significantly predicted lower levels of physiological and psychological RBF. Implications focus on improving general, academic, and racial campus climates to subsequently reduce RBF among Black students.