Abstract
Accumulating research shows that perceiving shared discrimination among racially minoritized groups fosters solidarity between people of color (PoC), which in turn increases support for pro-minority policies. The present study tests whether this pattern extends to political behavior by examining voting intentions—a key precursor to voter mobilization. We conducted three parallel survey experiments with nationally representative samples of Black (N = 850), Latino (N = 850), and Asian American (N = 850) adults three weeks before the 2024 U.S. presidential election between Kamala Harris and Donald J. Trump. Shared discrimination appeals increased solidarity uniformly across racial groups but did not directly affect voting intentions. Instead, solidarity mediated the effect of shared discrimination on intentions to vote for a PoC representative and for Harris. However, Harris’s avoidance of identity-based appeals meant she was not perceived as a clear PoC representative. Among Black voters in particular, shared discrimination was more strongly associated with intent to vote for a candidate seen as advancing PoC interests than for Harris. These findings suggest that shared discrimination appeals may not directly shift electoral intentions but can indirectly influence political engagement by activating a broader sense of cross-racial solidarity among PoC.Key Takeaways
- Across nationally representative samples of Black, Latino, and Asian Americans (N = 850 per group), making shared discrimination salient significantly increased solidarity with people of color but had no direct effect on voting intentions. However, solidarity was indirectly associated with higher intentions to vote for both a PoC-aligned representative and Kamala Harris, with the SEM showing good fit (CFI = .986, RMSEA = .027).
- The link between solidarity and intending to vote for Harris was significantly stronger for Latino and Asian Americans than for Black Americans (Δβ vs. Black = −.26 and −.23, respectively), consistent with a partisan ceiling among Black voters. By contrast, solidarity’s association with intending to vote for a generic PoC representative did not differ by race, and the two vote-intention outcomes were only weakly correlated (r < .30).
- Results were robust: a confounder would need a relatively strong correlation (ρ ≈ .421) with both solidarity and the Harris vote to fully nullify the indirect association. Equivalence tests could not rule out small direct effects (e.g., Harris intention diff = 0.001; 90% CI [−0.030, 0.032]).
Author Details
Citation
Rogbeer, K.G. & Pérez, E. (2026). Solidarity as a bridge: Shared discrimination is indirectly associated with voting intentions among People of Color. advances.in/psychology, 1, e328013. https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00045
Transparent Peer Review
The present article went through two rounds of double-blind peer review. The review report can be found here.





