Ally motivation to confront prejudice: understanding how a sense of emergency and responsibility influence the likelihood of confrontation for pitied groups versus envied groups

Abstract

Research indicates that stereotypes influence how people behave towards different social groups, and this study investigated how allies (individuals who will confront prejudice on behalf of targets or groups) differentially confront a discriminatory comment as a function of the groups’ associated stereotypes. The Confronting Prejudiced Responses (CPR) model would suggest that when someone feels an increase in a sense of emergency and a sense of responsibility to address discrimination, they will be more likely to confront that discrimination. Results indicate that although the group that was being discriminated against did not influence whether or not the participant would confront, the higher sense of emergency and sense of responsibility were indicators of a stronger likelihood of confrontation. Limitations and future directions are discussed.