How does the self-relevance of a social movement shape individuals’ engagement with it? We examined the decision-making processes that underlie support for Black Lives Matter (BLM) among Black, Hispanic, Asian, and White Americans. We find significant between-group differences in levels of support for BLM, both in terms of past behavior (Study 1) and in terms of future intentions to support the movement (Study 2). These differences notwithstanding, thinking about how one’s decisions impact others - which we label impact mindset - explains support for BLM across racial groups, cross-sectionally as well as longitudinally (over 8 months later). Our findings underscore the equivalence of the impact mindset construct across racial groups and its predictive power in the context of BLM. We conclude that, although the struggle for racial justice has different meanings for different racial groups, the same mindset underlies both in-group advocacy and allyship in the context of BLM.
AkninL. B.DunnE. W.WhillansA. V.GrantA. M.NortonM. I. (2013). Making a difference matters: Impact unlocks the emotional benefits of prosocial spending. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 88, 90–95.
2.
AmesD. R. (2004). Inside the mind reader’s tool kit: Projection and stereotyping in mental state inference. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(3), 340–353.
3.
AradA.RubinsteinA. (2012). The 11-20 money request game: A level-k reasoning study. American Economic Review, 102(7), 3561–3573.
4.
AsbrockF.SibleyC. G.DuckittJ. (2010). Right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation and the dimensions of generalized prejudice: A longitudinal test. European Journal of Personality, 24(4), 324–340.
5.
BatsonC. D.DyckJ. L.BrandtJ. R.BatsonJ. G.PowellA. L.McMasterM. R.GriffittC. (1988). Five studies testing two new egoistic alternatives to the empathy-altruism hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55(1), 52–77.
6.
CamererC. F. (2003). Strategizing in the brain. Science, 300(5626), 1673–1675.
7.
CheryanS.MoninB. (2005). Where are you really from? Asian Americans and identity denial. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(5), 717–730.
8.
ChoJ. C.KnowlesE. D. (2013). I’m like you and you’re like me: Social projection and self-stereotyping both help explain self–other correspondence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104(3), 444–456.
9.
CooleyE.HesterN.CipolliW.RiveraL. I.AbramsK.PaganJ.PayneK. (2020). Racial biases in officers’ decisions to frisk are amplified for Black people stopped among groups leading to similar biases in searches, arrests, and use of force. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 11(6), 761–769.
10.
CooleyE.LeiR.Brown-IannuzziJ.EllerkampT. (2019). Personal prejudice, other guilt: Explicit prejudice toward Black people predicts guilty verdicts for White officers who kill Black men. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(5), 754–766.
11.
CortlandC. I.CraigM. A.ShapiroJ. R.RichesonJ. A.NeelR.GoldsteinN. J. (2017). Solidarity through shared disadvantage: Highlighting shared experiences of discrimination improves relations between stigmatized groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(4), 547–567.
12.
CottrellC. A.NeubergS. L. (2005). Different emotional reactions to different groups: A sociofunctional threat-based approach to “prejudice..”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(5), 770–789.
13.
CraigM. A.BadaanV.BrownR. M. (2020). Acting for whom, against what? Group membership and multiple paths to engagement in social change. Current Opinion in Psychology, 35, 41–48.
14.
CraigM. A.RichesonJ. A. (2012). Coalition or derogation? How perceived discrimination influences intraminority intergroup relations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(4), 759–777.
15.
CraigM. A.RichesonJ. A. (2014). On the precipice of a “majority-minority” America: Perceived status threat from the racial demographic shift affects White Americans’ political ideology. Psychological Science, 25(6), 1189–1197.
16.
CuddyA. J.FiskeS. T.GlickP. (2007). The BIAS map: Behaviors from intergroup affect and stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(4), 631–648.
17.
De CremerD.Van DijkE. (2002). Reactions to group success and failure as a function of identification level: A test of the goal-transformation hypothesis in social dilemmas. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38(5), 435–442.
18.
DixitA. K.NalebuffB. J. (1991). Thinking strategically: The competitive edge in business, politics, and everyday life. WW Norton & Company.
19.
DixonJ.ElcherothG.KerrP.DruryJ.Al BzourM.SubašićE.GreenE. G. (2020). It’s not just “us” versus “them”: Moving beyond binary perspectives on intergroup processes. European Review of Social Psychology, 31(1), 40–75.
20.
EisenbergN.MillerP. A. (1987). The relation of empathy to prosocial and related behaviors. Psychological Bulletin, 101(1), 91–119.
21.
EpleyN.KeysarB.Van BovenL.GilovichT. (2004). Perspective taking as egocentric anchoring and adjustment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(3), 327–339.
22.
FiskeS. T.XuJ.CuddyA. C.GlickP. (1999). (Dis) respecting versus (dis) liking: Status and interdependence predict ambivalent stereotypes of competence and warmth. Journal of Social Issues, 55(3), 473–489.
23.
GerbasiM. E.PrenticeD. A. (2013). The self-and other-interest inventory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105(3), 495–514.
24.
GoldfarbA.XiaoM. (2011). Who thinks about the competition? Managerial ability and strategic entry in US local telephone markets. American Economic Review, 101(7), 3130–3161.
25.
GoslingS. D.RentfrowP. J.SwannW. B.Jr. (2003). A very brief measure of the Big-Five personality domains. Journal of Research in Personality, 37(6), 504–528.
26.
GreenD. P.CowdenJ. A. (1992). Who protests: Self-interest and white opposition to busing. The Journal of Politics, 54(2), 471–496.
27.
HalevyN. (2016). Strategic Thinking. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 1–66.
28.
HalevyN. (2020). Strategic thinking and behavior during a pandemic. Judgment and Decision Making, 15(5), 648–659.
29.
HalevyN.ChouE. Y.MurnighanJ. K. (2012). Mind games: The mental representation of conflict. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(1), 132–148.
30.
HalevyN.CohenT. R.ChouE. Y.KatzJ. J.PanterA. T. (2014). Mental models at work: Cognitive causes and consequences of conflict in organizations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(1), 92–110.
31.
HalevyN.PhillipsL. T. (2015). Conflict templates in negotiations, disputes, joint decisions, and tournaments. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6(1), 13–22.
32.
HalevyN.SagivL.RoccasS.BornsteinG. (2006). Perceiving intergroup conflict: From game models to mental templates. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(12), 1674–1689.
33.
HallA. V.HallE. V.PerryJ. L. (2016). Black and blue: Exploring racial bias and law enforcement in the killings of unarmed black male civilians. American Psychologist, 71(3), 175–186.
34.
HenryP. J.SearsD. O. (2002). The symbolic racism 2000 scale. Political Psychology, 23(2), 253–283.
35.
HoA. K.SidaniusJ.KteilyN.Sheehy-SkeffingtonJ.PrattoF.HenkelK. E.StewartA. L. (2015). The nature of social dominance orientation: Theorizing and measuring preferences for intergroup inequality using the new SDO- scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109(6), 1003–1028.
36.
HoA. K.SidaniusJ.PrattoF.LevinS.ThomsenL.KteilyN.Sheehy-SkeffingtonJ. (2012). Social dominance orientation: Revisiting the structure and function of a variable predicting social and political attitudes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(5), 583–606.
37.
HopeE. C.KeelsM.DurkeeM. I. (2016). Participation in Black Lives Matter and deferred action for childhood arrivals: Modern activism among Black and Hispanic college students. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 9(3), 203–215.
38.
IlchiO. S.FrankJ. (2020). Supporting the message, not the messenger: The correlates of attitudes towards Black Lives Matter. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 46(2), 377–398.
39.
KahnK.HoA. K.SidaniusJ.PrattoF. (2009). The space between us and them: Perceptions of status differences. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 12(5), 591–604.
40.
KashdanT. B.KaneJ. Q. (2011). Post-traumatic distress and the presence of post-traumatic growth and meaning in life: Experiential avoidance as a moderator. Personality and Individual Differences, 50(1), 84–89.
41.
KayA. C.JostJ. T. (2003). Complementary justice: Effects of “poor but happy” and “poor but honest” stereotype exemplars on system justification and implicit activation of the justice motive. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(5), 823–837.
42.
KelleyH. H.HolmesJ. G.KerrN. L.ReisH. T.RusbultC. E.Van LangeP. A. (2003). An Atlas of interpersonal situations. Cambridge University Press.
43.
KelleyH. H.ThibautJ. W. (1978). Interpersonal relations: A theory of interdependence. Wiley.
44.
KimC. J. (1999). The racial triangulation of Asian Americans. Politics & Society, 27(1), 105–138.
45.
KlavinaL.van ZomerenM. (2020). Protesting to protect “us” and/or “them”? Explaining why members of third groups are willing to engage in collective action. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 23(1), 140–160.
46.
LeachC. W.AllenA. M. (2017). The social psychology of the Black Lives Matter meme and movement. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(6), 543–547.
47.
LeighA.MelwaniS. (2019). # BlackEmployeesMatter: Mega-threats, identity fusion, and enacting positive deviance in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 44(3), 564–591.
48.
LeighA.MelwaniS. (2021). Am I next? The spillover effects of mega-threats on identity threat, identity labor, and withdrawal. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2021(1), Article 11976.
49.
LevineS. S.BernardM.NagelR. (2017). Strategic intelligence: The cognitive capability to anticipate competitor behavior. Strategic Management Journal, 38(12), 2390–2423.
50.
LinM. H.KwanV. S.CheungA.FiskeS. T. (2005). Stereotype content model explains prejudice for an envied outgroup: Scale of anti-Asian American stereotypes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31(1), 34–47.
51.
LoweryB. S.UnzuetaM. M.KnowlesE. D.GoffP. A. (2006). Concern for the in-group and opposition to affirmative action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(6), 961–974.
52.
LundmanR. J.KaufmanR. L. (2003). Driving while black: Effects of race, ethnicity, and gender on citizen self-reports of traffic stops and police actions. Criminology, 41(1), 195–220.
53.
MaA.YangY.SavaniK. (2019). “Take it or leave it!” A choice mindset leads to greater persistence and better outcomes in negotiations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 153, 1–12.
54.
MullenB.AtkinsJ. L.ChampionD. S.EdwardsC.HardyD.StoryJ. E.VanderklokM. (1985). The false consensus effect: A meta-analysis of 115 hypothesis tests. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 21(3), 262–283.
55.
NagelR. (1995). Unraveling in guessing games: An experimental study. American Economic Review, 85(5), 1313–1326.
56.
ObamaB. (2020). A promised land. Crown.
57.
OsborneD.JostJ. T.BeckerJ. C.BadaanV.SibleyC. G. (2019). Protesting to challenge or defend the system? A system justification perspective on collective action. European Journal of Social Psychology, 49(2), 244–269.
58.
QuattroneG. A.TverskyA. (1984). Causal versus diagnostic contingencies: On self-deception and on the voter’s illusion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46(2), 237–248.
59.
RadkeH. R.KutlacaM.SiemB.WrightS. C.BeckerJ. C. (2020). Beyond allyship: Motivations for advantaged group members to engage in action for disadvantaged groups. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 24, 291–315.
60.
ReinkaM. A.LeachC. W. (2017). Race and reaction: Divergent views of police violence and protest against. Journal of Social Issues, 73(4), 768–788.
61.
ReinkaM. A.LeachC. W. (2018). Racialized images: Tracing appraisals of police force and protest. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115(5), 763–787.
62.
ReitzelJ. D.RiceS. K.PiqueroA. R. (2004). Lines and shadows: Perceptions of racial profiling and the Hispanic experience. Journal of Criminal Justice, 32(6), 607–616.
63.
RoccasS.SagivL.SchwartzS.HalevyN.EidelsonR. (2008). Toward a unifying model of identification with groups: Integrating theoretical perspectives. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 12(3), 280–306.
64.
RosenbaumD. P.SchuckA. M.CostelloS. K.HawkinsD. F.RingM. K. (2005). Attitudes toward the police: The effects of direct and vicarious experience. Police Quarterly, 8(3), 343–365.
65.
RossL.GreeneD.HouseP. (1977). The “false consensus effect”: An egocentric bias in social perception and attribution processes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 13(3), 279–301.
66.
SandyC. J.GoslingS. D.SchwartzS. H.KoelkebeckT. (2017). The development and validation of brief and ultrabrief measures of values. Journal of Personality Assessment, 99(5), 545–555.
67.
SantosF. G. (2020). Social movements and the politics of care: Empathy, solidarity and eviction blockades. Social Movement Studies, 19(2), 125–143.
68.
SavaniK.MarkusH. R.NaiduN. V. R.KumarS.BerliaN. (2010). What counts as a choice? US Americans are more likely than Indians to construe actions as choices. Psychological Science, 21(3), 391–398.
69.
SawyerJ.GampaA. (2018). Implicit and explicit racial attitudes changed during Black Lives Matter. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44(7), 1039–1059.
70.
SchwartzB.WardA.MonterossoJ.LyubomirskyS.WhiteK.LehmanD. R. (2002). Maximizing versus satisficing: Happiness is a matter of choice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(5), 1178–1197.
71.
SchwartzS. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 1–65.
72.
SearsD. O.FunkC. L. (1991). The role of self-interest in social and political attitudes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 24, 1–91.
73.
SelvanathanH. P.LickelB.DasguptaN. (2020). An integrative framework on the impact of allies: How identity-based needs influence intergroup solidarity and social movements. European Journal of Social Psychology, 50(6), 1344–1361.
74.
SelvanathanH. P.TechakesariP.TroppL. R.BarlowF. K. (2018). Whites for racial justice: How contact with Black Americans predicts support for collective action among White Americans. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 21(6), 893–912.
75.
SirinC. V.ValentinoN. A.VillalobosJ. D. (2017). The social causes and political consequences of group empathy. Political Psychology, 38(3), 427–448.
76.
UnzuetaM. M.LoweryB. S. (2008). Defining racism safely: The role of self-image maintenance on white Americans’ conceptions of racism. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44(6), 1491–1497.
77.
Van LangeP. A.De BruinE.OttenW.JoiremanJ. A. (1997). Development of prosocial, individualistic, and competitive orientations: Theory and preliminary evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(4), 733–746.
78.
Van ZomerenM.LeachC. W.SpearsR. (2010). Does group efficacy increase group identification? Resolving their paradoxical relationship. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(6), 1055–1060.
79.
WagnerU.ChristO.PettigrewT. F. (2008). Prejudice and group-related behavior in Germany. Journal of Social Issues, 64(2), 403–416.
80.
WaytzA.IyerR.YoungL.HaidtJ.GrahamJ. (2019). Ideological differences in the expanse of the moral circle. Nature Communications, 10(1), 1–12.
81.
WeitzerR.TuchS. A. (2002). Perceptions of racial profiling: Race, class, and personal experience. Criminology, 40(2), 435–456.
82.
WeitzerR.TuchS. A. (2005). Racially biased policing: Determinants of citizen perceptions. Social Forces, 83(3), 1009–1030.
83.
WilcoxC.SigelmanL.CookE. (1989). Some like it hot: Individual differences in responses to group feeling thermometers. Public Opinion Quarterly, 53(2), 246–257.
84.
WilkinsD. J.LivingstoneA. G.LevineM. (2019). Whose tweets? The rhetorical functions of social media use in developing the Black Lives Matter movement. British Journal of Social Psychology, 58(4), 786–805.
85.
XuJ.LeeJ. C. (2013). The marginalized “model” minority: An empirical examination of the racial triangulation of Asian Americans. Social Forces, 91(4), 1363–1397.
86.
ZouL. X.CheryanS. (2017). Two axes of subordination: A new model of racial position. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 112(5), 696–717.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
