#NotAllWhites: Liberal-leaning Whites Racially Disidentify in Response to Trump-Related Group-Image Threat

Abstract

Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, in large part, due to support from White Americans. This win created a new socio-political reality in which White Americans as a group became associated with Trump and his anti-egalitarianism. Four studies (N=3245) explored how liberal-leaning Whites negotiate their racial identity to contend with group-image threat arising from the association between their racial ingroup and Trump. Trump-related group-image threat (i.e., Whites’ agreement with Trump’s anti-egalitarianism or disapproval of his impeachment) led liberal-leaning Whites to disidentify from their racial ingroup. In turn, racial disidentification predicted greater signaling of egalitarian beliefs (i.e., expressing intentions to advocate for racial equity and supporting policies designed to benefit racially minoritized groups) and behaviors (i.e., donating money to racial equity-focused organizations). These results suggest that the process of negotiating Trump-related group-image threat has implications for both White Americans’ racial identities and ongoing efforts to achieve racial equity.