Evidence for a Curvilinear Effect of Psychological Discomfort on Dominant Group Members' Engagement in Allyship.

The article investigates how the intensity of psychological discomfort—specifically collective guilt and shame experienced by White Americans regarding racial inequity—relates to their engagement in allyship and defensive reactions. Across four pre-registered studies involving 4,563 White participants, the authors find that while collective discomfort generally correlates linearly with greater allyship intentions and behaviors, evidence for diminishing returns or curvilinear effects on allyship is mixed. In contrast, defensive responses such as victimhood claiming and stigma reversal exhibit a consistent U-shaped (curvilinear) relationship with discomfort, where both low and high discomfort levels are linked to increased defensiveness compared to moderate discomfort. These findings suggest that high psychological discomfort may paradoxically undermine allyship by fostering defensiveness or disengagement, highlighting the need for interventions that carefully manage discomfort to sustain dominant group members’ long-term commitment to equity efforts.