Evaluating and dismantling an intervention aimed at increasing White people’s knowledge and understanding of racial justice issues.

In this study, we built upon prejudice reduction interventions research (primarily in social psychology) and ally development investigations (primarily in applied psychology). We aimed to develop an intervention to foster knowledge and attitude change identified in both areas as central to reducing prejudice and increasing intentions to promote racial justice. Specifically, we aimed to determine whether online imaginal and psychoeducational interventions could contribute to White people’s needed understandings to engage in racial justice work. Additionally, if some interventions were successful, we aimed to determine which components were most effective. We used three intervention components, two of which were created for this study: imaginal contact with a person of color, learning and reflecting about racism and its impact on people of color, and increasing awareness of White privilege and positionality. We randomized participants to different combinations of the intervention components and control components to not only evaluate combined components but also dismantle the intervention, determining whether specific aspects of the intervention were more effective. Participants completed outcome measures about their attitudes and understandings prior to the intervention, immediately postintervention, and 3 weeks after completing the intervention. Findings demonstrated that the intervention and its components positively impacted outcomes of interest, with increasingly complicated learning requiring more comprehensive intervention to change. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)Public Policy Relevance Statement: Despite our efforts, subtle and overt forms of racism continue to exist in the United States. This study suggests that through intervention, White people can develop a greater awareness of racial justice issues. Organizations and institutions could benefit from utilizing similar low-resource interventions to combat prejudice and increase allied attitudes.