Date of Award
Summer 8-18-2022
Degree Name
Master of Arts (AM/MA)
Degree Type
Thesis
Abstract
Many White Americans are motivated to be anti-racist but fall short. Often, they become defensive when confronted with their involvement in perpetuating racism. To address this, we designed an experiment to test a personalized, social modeling intervention that targets obstacles to responding constructively to being confronted about racism. In our multi-faceted intervention, participants learned from videos of role models who effectively managed a confrontation after doing something racist. After each video, participants wrote personalized reflections applying what they learned. In a registered sample of 391 White Americans, the intervention increased the personal acknowledgment of racial bias, changed relevant bias-related beliefs and motivations, and decreased defensiveness to bias feedback. The intervention did not change internal motivation to respond without prejudice, self-efficacy for bias regulation, and engagement to read more about racial bias. Together, these findings suggest that this multi-faceted intervention may empower White Americans with social and emotional skills to be anti-racist.
Language
English (en)
Chair and Committee
Calvin K. Lai
Committee Members
Tammy English, Clara Wilkins, Chris Rozek
Recommended Citation
Beatty, Jennifer Frances, "A Personalized Intervention to Increase Regulatory Capacity for Anti-Racist Action" (2022). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2767.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/2767