Date Approved

1-20-2026

Embargo Period

1-20-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D. Psychology

Department

Clinical Psychology

College

College of Science & Mathematics

Advisor

Bethany Raiff, Ph.D.

Committee Member 1

Meredith Jones, Ph.D.

Committee Member 2

Michelle Soreth, Ph.D.

Committee Member 3

Rachael Shapiro, Ph.D.

Disciplines

Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

Activism, specifically Performative Activism (PA), has been difficult to study due to its wide variation and individual complexity. Study 1, a qualitative exploration of PA, involved interviews with 9 individuals, who were highly variable on the ADDRESSING Framework, regarding their experiences with and opinions on PA. Study 1 used Reflexive Thematic Analysis to identify 6 behavioral markers of PA which were used to create a definition of Performative Activism based on the voices and opinions of diverse people in activist spaces. Study 2 was an ABA (test-retest) design using fictional scenarios to train participants to identify PA. Participants were 54 college students from Rowan University. A paired T-test was used to identify any changes in the percents of questions answered correctly between the pre- and post- tests. Participants saw a slight increase (6%) in the percent of questions answered correctly, but this increase only approached statistical significance (p=0.94). Participants who scored 50% or lower on the pre-test (n=15) saw a statistically significant (p< 0.001) change (29%) in their scores. While this sample size was small and lacked statistical power, Study 2 proposed a potential paradigm which could be refined and further studied to train individuals to identify and change performative behavior in the future.

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