Leiden University Student Repository

Koivusaari, Satu (2024)

Visible Actions Speal Louder than Inclusive Words - The Effect of Racial Representation on Climate Activism among People of Color

Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)

Building on evidence that minority representation increases minorities’ political participation, in my preregistered study, I investigated whether increased racial representation within the climate movement causes Americans of color (N = 226) to evaluate the climate movement more positively and to encourage them to partake in climate activism. I tested this by using a 2 x 2 between-subjects design in which representation was manipulated both descriptively (i.e., the presence of people of color) and substantively (i.e., a focus on issues specifically affecting people of color) in a short video about climate activism. The results showed that descriptive representation had a positive, significant effect on evaluation of the movement, but no effects were found for substantive representation nor on climate action behavior. These findings enrich the scientific literature and provide insights on how social movements can become more inclusive, potentially increasing their effectiveness.

collective action, climate movement, diversity, inclusion, minority representation

Author

Koivusaari, Satu

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Social and Economic Psychology

Supervisors

Dr. Ruthie Pliskin

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en