Location
University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia
Document Type
Poster
Description
When people have more free time, activism and engagement in social justice activities often increase. We studied whether this political theory is true in the midst of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement, while many Americans have increased levels of free time during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We surveyed 203 participants between the ages of 18 and 71 to analyze the extent to which free time impacted engagement in the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement for racial justice. In this survey, we controlled for the variables of self-efficacy and personal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic by including measures for these constructs to the participants. Results showed that investment into Black Lives Matter was in fact marginally significantly impacted by prior knowledge on racial justice issues (p < 0.001). Furthermore, our results revealed that the amount of free time people had, in hours over a given month, impacted the number of hours people invested into Black Lives Matter (p = 0.050). Self-efficacy and personal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic did not have mediation effects in this study as we had hypothesized. We further continue to discuss the practical implications of these findings and the role that limitations played in the production of this study and its results.
Included in
The Impact of COVID-19 on the Black Lives Matter Movement
University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia
When people have more free time, activism and engagement in social justice activities often increase. We studied whether this political theory is true in the midst of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement, while many Americans have increased levels of free time during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We surveyed 203 participants between the ages of 18 and 71 to analyze the extent to which free time impacted engagement in the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement for racial justice. In this survey, we controlled for the variables of self-efficacy and personal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic by including measures for these constructs to the participants. Results showed that investment into Black Lives Matter was in fact marginally significantly impacted by prior knowledge on racial justice issues (p < 0.001). Furthermore, our results revealed that the amount of free time people had, in hours over a given month, impacted the number of hours people invested into Black Lives Matter (p = 0.050). Self-efficacy and personal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic did not have mediation effects in this study as we had hypothesized. We further continue to discuss the practical implications of these findings and the role that limitations played in the production of this study and its results.
Comments
Keywords: coronavirus (COVID-19), racial justice, social isolation, Black Lives Matter, racism, quarantine, social justice
Department: Psychology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Scott Allison, Ph.D.