Evidence for a Curvilinear Effect of Psychological Discomfort on Dominant Group Members’ Engagement in Allyship

Psychological discomfort can motivate, demotivate, or even backfire upon efforts to encourage allyship. We consider the <i>intensity</i> of such discomfort to test curvilinear relationships between psychological discomfort and Whites' engagement in equity efforts. Across four pre-registered studies (<i>N</i> = 4,563), we find support for our curvilinear model. First, we explore the relationship between collective discomfort and allyship intentions. While we find that collective discomfort is linearly associated with greater allyship, we find little evidence of diminishing returns. Second, we find a curvilinear relationship between collective discomfort and defensive reactions: Both low and high discomfort was associated with increasing defensive reactions to evidence of racial inequity (victimhood claiming, stigma reversal) than moderate discomfort. Thus, we provide empirical support for the idea that dominant group members who experience high (vs. moderate) discomfort in the face of social inequality may be less likely to support equity. We offer insights on how to manage this issue.