Motives Matter: White Instructors' External Race-Based Motives Undermine Trust and Belonging for Black College Students

Objective: Trust is fundamental to successful educational relationships. Yet, numerous barriers inhibit the development of trust between students of color (SOC) and White instructors. The current research examined a metacognitive obstacle to the development of cross-race classroom trust: Primarily External Race Motives (PERM). PERM was defined as the experience that instructors were more concerned with avoiding the appearance of prejudice than having self-directed egalitarian motives. Method: Using within-subjects vignettes (n = 313; 74.8% female), between-subjects cross-sectional designs (n = 386; 70.5% female), and longitudinal methods (n = 135; 45.2% female), the current work tested the primary hypothesis that PERM would undermine instructor trust and classroom belonging. Hypotheses were tested with Black adults (Study 1) and college students (Studies 2 and 3). Results and Conclusions: Whether with hypothetical, past, or present White educators, feeling that instructors have primarily external race-based motives undermined instructor trust and classroom belonging. In all studies, the relationship between PERM and classroom belonging was mediated by instructor (mis)trust. The results provide evidence that motives viewed to be primarily external undermine instructional relationships for SOC. Public Significance Statement Trust is essential to academic success. However, for students of color, trust can be damaged when White instructors seem to have primarily external interracial motives (i.e., when instructors seem to be more concerned about avoiding the appearance of prejudice than communicating authentic, self-directed egalitarian motives). Results from three studies provide evidence that dominant external instructor motives impair trust and academic belonging for Black college students.