White Individuals’ Intentions to Engage in Racial Justice Action: Utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior

Past research has shown that people of color are more likely and more motivated to participate in actions that support the fair treatment of racially minoritized group members, also known as racial justice, compared to White people. Little research has examined what factors may motivate White people to become more involved in racial justice action. Addressing this gap, the current research aimed to investigate these factors by utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1985) to examine whether attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) predicted White individuals' intentions to engage in racial justice actions, and whether these relationships were moderated by behavior risk level. A pilot study identified six racial justice behaviors representing low-, moderate-, and high-risk levels. In the main study, several linear mixed models tested risk level and participant group as moderators, while controlling for additional variables. Findings indicated that attitudes, norms, and PBC were significant, positive predictors of intentions. When risk was included as a moderator, attitudes were most strongly related to intentions for low-risk behaviors, while norms were most strongly related to high-risk behavior intentions. A three-way interaction between PBC, risk, and group also emerged when risk and group were entered as moderators, such that PBC was more strongly related to low- and moderate-risk intentions than to high-risk intentions, but only within one participant group. Taken together, these findings provide new insight into the factors related to White individuals' intentions to engage in racial justice actions.