What Are We Fighting For? Lay Theories About the Goals and Motivations of Anti-Racism Activism

Abstract

Social psychology has primarily focused on activism as action toward social change; little is known about how laypeople think about activism. The present research sought to investigate lay theories about the goals (N = 434) and motivations (N = 428) of anti-racism activism produced by U.S. participants in an online survey. Using the Meaning Extraction Method and a qualitative-inductive approach, six anti-racism activism goals were identified: challenging the status quo, tackling systemic racism, reducing interpersonal racism, addressing police brutality, promoting equality, and raising public awareness of racism. In addition, participants attributed engagement in anti-racism activism to six motivations: caring for close others, media influence, understanding racial disparities, fighting for a better world, personal experience of discrimination, and witnessing racialized violence. The present study is the first to shed light on lay beliefs of anti-racism activism goals and motivations with implications for how to encourage anti-racism activism.