From collective restriction to critical action: the indirect effects of critical motivation and radical hope

Introduction Historically, Women of Color (WOC) in the United States have experienced systemic restrictions to their freedom and autonomy, which can have a lasting impact on their mental health and wellbeing. Conceptually, this type of collective autonomy restriction (CAR) experience may be associated with increased critical consciousness (CC), reflected in greater awareness of social and systemic oppression, commitment to and belief in one’s capacity to address social issues, and engagement in action; however, there is a dearth of research examining this association. Building on critical consciousness and hope literatures, we hypothesized that the association between CAR and critical action would be explained through serial pathways of increased critical motivation and greater radical or collective hope. Materials and Methods A sample of 408 WOC completed an online survey administered through Prolific and hosted on Qualtrics. The survey included indicators of CAR, critical consciousness (critical motivation and critical actions), psychological hope, and radical hope. Results We conducted structural equation modeling to test a serial mediation model exploring the associations among CAR, critical motivation, hope, and critical action. Findings indicated the association between CAR and critical action was fully mediated by the proposed serial mediation pathways (CAR → Critical Motivation → Radical Hope → Critical Action). The pathway through radical hope was stronger than through psychological hope. The direct effect of CAR on critical action was non-significant, indicating full mediation. Discussion These results highlight the role of radical hope as a potential pathway connecting critical awareness of collective autonomy restriction and critical motivation to engage in critical action aimed at social change. We extend the existing literature by demonstrating that awareness of oppression and motivation alone may be insufficient to explain the link between the first two dimensions of critical consciousness (critical reflection and critical motivation) and critical action. Limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed.