Authentic allyship: Feeling authentic increases allyship behavior via greater psychological standing

Allyship-or efforts to support marginalized groups to achieve social equity-can be an important tool for reducing inequity. However, public discourse regarding allyship has increasingly bemoaned performative or inauthentic allyship, highlighting that allies' authenticity (the subjective alignment between their internal beliefs and external states) is important for marginalized groups. How do potential allies view their own authenticity as an ally and with what consequences? We suggest that some individuals who may be potential allies, given their egalitarian values, may not act on said potential due to authenticity concerns; people first want to feel that allyship is consistent with their "true" self. We test whether affirming allies' felt authenticity as an ally may increase allyship by increasing their psychological standing (the subjective experience of legitimacy to perform an action). We test our hypotheses across eight studies (N = 5,515; two in supplement, five preregistered). First, in a pilot field study, we find that felt authenticity as an ally was associated with greater engagement in allyship after the murder of George Floyd (June 2020). Next, we present three experiments that find that increased feelings of authenticity as an ally lead to greater allyship engagement (intentions and behaviors). Finally, two more experiments show that allies' felt authenticity as an ally increases their allyship engagement via psychological standing, by increasing their perceptions of self-relevance and their belief that moral values drive their actions. We discuss implications for efforts to cultivate allies, introducing a simple intervention to affirm allies' authenticity and increase engagement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).