Religious norms, norm conflict, and religious identification

The present research sought to understand how religious identification is associated with normative practices and with norm conflict (the perception that people within the religious group are not all enacting the same standards or rules for behaviour). Using a multi-faith sample (N=400) we replicate positive associations of religious identification with engaging in normative practices such as prayer, and the associations of both identification and normative practices with stronger well-being. Religious norm conflict was associated with lower identification and lower well-being, however. Three coping strategies were examined: 1) engaging in normative ritual practices was protective of identification and well-being; 2) affirming that the conflict occurs on less important (vs core) religious norms was associated with higher well-being, but not with identification; and 3) challenging the religious norm was associated with lower well-being, but did not alter religious identification

Collective action and social change

The paper will review a research program on identity and norms that explores the inter-relationship between collective action and social change. We take the opportunity to review the different treatment of collective action from within mainstream social psychology and peace psychology, and then hone in on the question of whether there is anything special (or not) about collective harm-doing: collective action to hurt or kill others. We use this as a springboard to comment on the impact and antecedents of radicalisation, before closing with a discussion of what is missing from the scholarship of collective action in our view