Location
University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia
Document Type
Poster
Description
This project assesses the allyship of White students and non-Black students of color at the University of Richmond, specifically through their use of and perceptions of social media as a form of activism during the recent racial justice protests. Though documenting one’s allyship on social media may function to educate and influence others, some have questioned whether such behaviors are merely optical or performative allyship, designed to benefit the ally’s reputation and social standing more than affect social change. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate whether students differ in the extent to which they report internal (i.e., aligned with personal values) and external (i.e., derived from social pressures) motivations to engage in optical allyship, and whether those differences in motivations are linked to differences in the frequency and type of informed action they undertake, as well as related variables (e.g., anti-racist beliefs).
Included in
Committed to the Cause or Performative Posting?: Developing a Measure of Internal and External Motivations for Online Activism
University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia
This project assesses the allyship of White students and non-Black students of color at the University of Richmond, specifically through their use of and perceptions of social media as a form of activism during the recent racial justice protests. Though documenting one’s allyship on social media may function to educate and influence others, some have questioned whether such behaviors are merely optical or performative allyship, designed to benefit the ally’s reputation and social standing more than affect social change. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate whether students differ in the extent to which they report internal (i.e., aligned with personal values) and external (i.e., derived from social pressures) motivations to engage in optical allyship, and whether those differences in motivations are linked to differences in the frequency and type of informed action they undertake, as well as related variables (e.g., anti-racist beliefs).
Comments
Department: Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Kristjen Lundberg