“They Are the Shoulders I Stand On”: Ancestral Self-Concept Increases People of Color’s Racial Equality Activism and Intraminority Solidarity

The present research examines how the conceptualization of the self as part of one’s ancestry may enhance people of color’s activism. Two correlational studies ( N s = 593 and 160) showed that greater ancestral self-concept was associated with greater past engagement in prejudice confrontation (Study 1a) and racial equality activism (Study 1b). Follow-up experiments with Asian (Study 2; N = 220) and Black (Studies 3–4; Ns = 310 and 511) Americans demonstrated that people who wrote about themselves as part of their ancestry (vs. control condition) expressed greater intentions to participate in racial activism and greater activism tenacity. Notably, ancestral self-concept increased intraminority solidarity, including Black Americans’ pro-Palestine activism intentions (Study 3) and donation to a pro-immigrant cause (Study 4). These effects were mediated by greater endorsement of background-specific strengths, motives to continue one’s ancestral legacy, and linked fate beliefs. Findings advance a strength-based psychological study of the self and activism.