Being an Effective Ally: Values, Self-Efficacy, and Outgroup Collective Efficacy Predict Support for Autonomy- and Assistance-Focused Affirmative Action Policies

Abstract

Members of high-status groups (e.g., White Americans) often act as allies who invest effort to benefit members of low-status groups (e.g., Black Americans). Although this effort can manifest in a wide range of behaviors, little is known about what predicts these varied actions. The current research investigated motivation and cognition as predictors of White Americans’ attitudes and behavior to reduce racial inequality. Specifically, I argue that both egalitarian values and self-efficacy are necessary to predict Whites’ efforts to reduce group-based inequality (i.e., allyship). Study 1 used a large representative database to provide correlational evidence that individuals’ egalitarian beliefs interact with sociopolitical self-efficacy to predict support for affirmative action policies. Building on the findings from Study 1, Study 2 tested whether White Americans’ perceptions of Black Americans’ collective efficacy are associated with different types of ally behavior (i.e., policies that are focused on developing Blacks’ autonomy vs. those that provide direct assistance to fulfill immediate needs). Study 2 showed that perceptions of Blacks’ collective efficacy indeed moderated the interaction between egalitarian beliefs and self-efficacy. Findings revealed that White Americans who both have strong egalitarian beliefs and feel efficacious in sociopolitical domains were more likely to support both autonomy- and assistance-focused policies when they believe that Blacks are incapable of producing positive social change, compared to when they believe that Blacks are capable of creating such change. However, this effect was reversed for egalitarians who feel inefficacious, suggesting the positive effect of perceiving Blacks as capable of changing society. Study 3 replicated this three-way interaction using an experimental approach, which attests to the causal role of perceptions of Blacks’ collective efficacy in shaping Whites’ support for policies and programs that are aimed at reducing racial inequality. Findings from these three studies have implications for how powerholders in institutions, organizations, and society can become the catalyst for reducing group-based inequality. Implications for public and organization policy, campaigns, and interventions will be discussed.