Directly confronting others’ prejudice has been promoted as an important component in creating an inclusive workplace and motivating individuals to enact more inclusive behaviors. However, confrontations can also result in negative reactions from the confronted such as hostility or withdrawal. Across three studies (one experiment focused on anti-Black racism and two survey studies in which retrospective incidents of any type of racism were collected), we examine the extent to which the focus of a confrontation is associated with immediate constructive (i.e., prosocial) or destructive (i.e., antisocial, withdrawal/avoidant) responses. Specifically, we examine the differential effects of confronting racism in a way that focuses on the specific, temporary, and external behaviors enacted by the individual (behavior-focused) compared to focusing on the global, stable, and internal attributes of the person (person-focused). Across three studies we find converging evidence that behavior-focused confrontations are associated with more prosocial responses (e.g., self-improvement plans, appreciation) and that person-focused confrontations are associated with more antisocial and withdrawal/avoidant responses (e.g., hostility, avoidance). In Study 3, we find that interpersonal motivations (i.e., benevolence, revenge) and relationship repair efficacy help explain the effects of confrontation focus. We also find that the race of the confronter was not a significant moderator of findings, but we see some differences when comparing confronting anti-Black racism to confronting other types of racism (Studies 2 and 3). These results suggest that confrontation focus, and associated interpersonal motivations and beliefs, are important to understanding responses to prejudice confrontations. Implications are discussed.

直面他人的偏见已被推广为创建包容性工作场所和激励个人采取更具包容性行为的重要组成部分。然而，对抗也可能导致对抗者的负面反应，例如敌意或退缩。在三项研究中（一项侧重于反黑人种族主义的实验和两项调查研究，其中收集了任何类型种族主义的回顾性事件），我们检查了对抗的焦点与直接建设性（即亲社会）相关的程度或破坏性（即反社会、退缩/回避）反应。具体来说，我们以关注特定的、暂时的、和个人制定的外部行为（以行为为中心）相比，关注人的全局、稳定和内部属性（以人为中心）。在三项研究中，我们发现了趋同的证据表明，以行为为中心的对抗与更多的亲社会反应相关（例如，自我提升计划、欣赏），而以人为中心的对抗与更多的反社会和退缩/回避反应相关（例如，敌意、回避） ）。在研究 3 中，我们发现人际动机（即仁慈、报复）和关系修复功效有助于解释对抗焦点的影响。我们还发现，对抗者的种族并不是研究结果的重要调节者，但在比较对抗黑人种族主义与对抗其他类型的种族主义时，我们看到了一些差异（研究 2 和 3）。这些结果表明，对抗焦点以及相关的人际动机和信念对于理解对偏见对抗的反应很重要。讨论了影响。