Demotivating Justice: White Americans’ Outrage at Individual Bigotry May Reduce Action to Address Systematic Racial Inequity

Abstract

These studies examine whether expressing outrage at a prejudiced individual may undermine justice-insensitive White Americans’ motivation to engage in more costly actions addressing systemic racism. Study 1 (N = 896) manipulated White privilege salience and the opportunity to express outrage before measuring donations to a racial justice organization. Reminders of racial privilege increased White collective guilt, and donations among White U.S. participants low (but not high) in justice sensitivity. However, the opportunity to express outrage at another’s prejudicial behavior negated privilege-induced reparative action. A second preregistered study (N = 1344) found this effect only when outrage was directed at a racialized (vs. non-racialized) injustice. A third preregistered study (N = 1133) replicated the effects using a more controlled manipulation of outrage expression and more ecologically valid outcomes. Findings suggest that salient racial privilege may motivate some White Americans to address systemic racism, but expressing outrage at another’s bigotry may undermine this process.