Solidarity Among Disadvantaged Groups: Feminist Identity and the Preference for Coalition Over One‐Group Alliances Among LBTIQA + and Cis‐Heterosexual Women

ABSTRACT

This work examines how feminist identity influences support for collective actions that promote intergroup allyship between cis‐heterosexual and LBTIQA+ women, as well as preferences for how this alliance is represented (as one‐group or as a coalition). We analyse individual perceptions of both cis‐heterosexual and LBTIQA+ women regarding the intergroup allyship building between these two groups. Furthermore, we analyse three underlying mechanisms of the relation between feminist identification and pro‐alliance collective actions or alliance type preferences: perceived intergroup common goals, similarities, and differences. Across four correlational studies ( N  = 1249), feminist identification was positively associated with intentions to engage in pro‐alliance collective actions in most samples. This association was mediated primarily by perceived common goals and similarities. Common goals predicted preferences for representation as a coalition, whereas perceived similarities were also related to preference for a one‐group representation (for both cis‐heterosexual and LBTIQA+ women). Preference for a coalition was consistently associated with stronger pro‐alliance action intentions across samples (Study 1a‐2b), whereas preference for a one‐group representation mobilized only cis‐heterosexual women (Study 1a), as well as the preference for a representation as a coalition. These results highlight the importance of feminist identification, perceived common goals and similarities of the intergroup alliance as a coalition as mechanisms to enhance cooperation between LBTIQA+ and cis‐heterosexual feminist women.