Date of Award

5-2026

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Thesis

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Conor O'Dea

Second Advisor

Brain Day

Abstract

Confrontation is shown to reduce expressions of racial prejudice. However, a person’s motivations to confront can change how effective the confrontation is in shifting attitudes. Confronting prejudice can be driven by internal motivations, such as personal values, or external motivations, like social approval. Through two studies, I investigated whether reflecting on the drawbacks of performative activism (motivation condition) affected individuals' motivation to confront prejudice. I hypothesized that individuals (especially those with the strongest external motivations) would shift to be more internal when reflecting on the issues of performative activism compared to a control condition. In online Study 1A, I found that, consistent with the hypotheses, individuals with strong internal motivation consistently demonstrated a higher likelihood of confronting prejudice across all scenarios. However, contrary to the hypothesis, encouraging reflection on the drawbacks of performative activism had no observable impact on individuals' underlying motivational orientations. In in-person study 1B, I found a significant effect of condition on external motivations. The findings highlight how reflecting on specific values such as performative activism has the potential to shift individuals to adapt more internal motivations. In person reflections could encourage people to challenge prejudice consistently instead of only for rewards or approval. However, future research is needed to further test these reflections in an in-person setting.

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