The Occupy and Indignados movement and the importance of political context: differences between occasionals and regulars in Spain and the UK

In this work we look into the individuals’ reasons that led Occupy protesters to participate in this movement. We interviewed Occupy participants in the UK and Spain. We wanted to find out if the reasons that lead them to participate are the same in both countries. The context of the country where the demonstration was held was taken into account, as well as the differences there may be in the reasons for participation if we consider whether they are occasional or regular participants in collective protest actions. Using a two-by-two design defined by country of demonstration and the history of mobilisation (occasional vs. regular), our results show important differences in both factors. The study contributes to the literature, highlighting the importance of analysing the context where the demonstration takes place and which motives must be underlined in order to attract participants to protests

Ira y emociones positivas en protestas políticas

This study analyses the role played by emotions in protest. In the current explanatory models, anger is the sole emotion associated with these actions. But is anger the only emotion capable of mobilising citizens to defend a cause? We believe not. Hence, we postulate that anger, along with other emotions of positive valence, must act jointly to facilitate protest. To test this hypothesis, a questionnaire was applied to 316 university students in a setting of cut-backs in education. The results highlight several interesting aspects. Firstly, anger correlated significantly and positively with the positive emotions. Secondly, the mediation analysis performed showed: a) the relevance of positive emotions for explaining the intention to participate; and b) the influence of anger on the intention to participate is fundamentally through positive emotions. We will also discuss the role of emotions and the need to extend the motives involved in political actionsEn este estudio se analiza el papel de las emociones en la protesta política. En los modelos actuales, la ira es la única emoción que se asocia a esas acciones. Sin embargo, los autores creen que no es la única emoción que moviliza a la ciudadanía, por ello afirman que junto a ella deben existir otras de valencia positiva. En este estudio participaron 316 estudiantes universitarios a los que se les preguntó por su intención de movilizarse en contra de los recortes en educación. Los resultados muestran que la ira correlaciona de manera significativa con las emociones positivas. Además el análisis de mediación muestra la relevancia de las emociones positivas para explicar las intenciones de protesta y que la influencia de la ira sobre la intención de participar se realiza fundamentalmente a través de las emociones positivas. Se discute el papel de las emociones y la necesidad de ampliar los motivos de participaciónWith financial support from the Galician Department of Culture, Education, and Universities, and the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union (GPC2013-017)S

Mobilization through online social networks : the political protest of the indignados in Spain

The 15M demonstration (the origin of the indignados movement in Spain and the seed of the occupy mobilizations) presents some outstanding characteristics that defy the established principles of the collective action paradigm. This article develops some observable implications of the concept of connective action and tests them against the case of the 15M demonstration. Cases of self-organized connective action networks are expected to be different from traditional collective action cases with regard to the characteristics of the organizations involved, the prevalent mobilization channels and the characteristics of participants. Based on a comparative analysis of data gathered from participants and organizations in nine demonstrations held in Spain between 2010 and 2011, relevant and significant differences were found in the characteristics of the 15M staging organizations (recently created, without formal membership and mainly online presence), the main mobilization channels (personal contact and online social networks rather than co-members or broadcast media), and participants (younger, more educated and less politically involved). These findings help to understand the large turnout figures of this movement and have important implications for the mobilization potential of social networks, particularly as it can affect the political participation of the less-involved citizens

Redes sociales y marcos de acción colectiva

[Abstract] The Theory of Collective Action Frames is strongly supported in the field of social movements. In this paper, together with the measurement of different com... ponents of collective action frames (injustice, identity and agency), we have confir.. med thar the beliefs which legitimate collective action are more widespread in pla... ces where the movement is most active, and which therefore have more widely extended their social networks. By analysing the relationschip between different fra.. mes and the intenion to take part in varying types of collective action, whe have proved the strong explanatory capacity of agency, and the differential contribution of the different dimensions fo the frame of injustice.[Resumen] La Teoría de los Marcos de Acción Colectiva cuenta con un importante respal.. do en el campo de los movimientos sociales. En este trabajo, además de la operati... vización de los distintos componentes de los marcos de ación colectiva (injusticia, identidad y eficacia), hemos confirmado que las creencias que legitiman la acción colectiva están más extendidas allá donde el movimiento realiza una mayor activi.. dad y, por tanto, tiene más desplegadas sus redes sociales. Al analizar la relación de los distintos marcos con la intención de participar en diversas formas de acción colectiva, hemos comprobado el fuerte poder explicativa de la eficacia y la contri... bución diferencial de las distintas dimensiones del marco de injusticia

Predicting collective action in a secessionist context: different motives for twoopposed stances

Engagement in collective action is essential in the scenario of a secessionist struggle. In this scenario, two groups contend for an incompatible goal and one of them is favoured by the current status quo. Therefore, this context represents an excellent opportunity to compare the motives for participation among two groups whose situation and objectives differ drastically. We examined the motivations to participate in collective action of Catalan participants in the days leading to the independence referendum held in Catalonia (Spain) on the first of October 2017 (n = 719). As hypothesized, participation predicted by different motivations for each group. Regarding participation in the referendum, Catalan identity was the only predictor among pro-independence ranks, while those against independence showed a solidarity-based motivation. This work contributes to the literature by adapting previously researched collective action motivations to the context of a secessionist contention and providing evidence of their effect. Crucially, the motivations are different between supporters and opponents of independence, highlighting the need for examining the status and the stance on the system of groups when studying collective actionThe authors belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group GRC/GPC2016-017-GI-1456, COSOYPA, and to the CRETUS Strategic Partnership (AGRUP2015/02). These programmes are co-funded by FEDER (UE) and the Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria of the Xunta de Galicia (Spain)S

“Save the Climate! Stop the Oil”: Actual Protest Behavior and Core Framing Tasks in the Portuguese Climate Movement

In this article, we focus on two demonstrations against climate change that took place in Portugal on the 12th of November 2016 and the 29th of April 2017. Two separate studies were conducted on the same protests. In Study 1, we conducted a quantitative study (N = 259), to examine the role of socio-demographics and socio-psychological predictors in predicting the actual protest. Participants were demonstrators (N = 158), as well as non-demonstrators (N = 101). Results indicated that moral motivation and identification as an environmentalist were the key variables in explaining actual protest. In Study 2, we conducted a framing analysis of the written manifestos (N = 2), to identify the core framing tasks which were used to inspire and legitimize the protests. The framing analysis suggests that the problems and paths for action were described by appealing to the interlinkage between the global and local dimensions of climate change, and that arguments of severity and urgency of the problem were the most salient. The implications of this research are discussed in relation to possible pathways for a more comprehensive understanding of the reasons why people engage in collective action in climate change related issues, and how these motives may relate to how social movements mobilize people for actionThis work was supported by a postdoctoral research fellowship [grant number SFRH/BPD/103371/2014] and by funds of the Center for Psychological Research and Social Intervention (Cis-IUL, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL) – Ref. UID/PSI/03125/2013), both funded by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia)S

Creencias legitimadoras de la violencia política contra los inocentes

This article analyses the arguments and beliefs published in a newspaper with links to a terrorist group, in an attempt to legitimize the kidnapping and murder of an innocent victim. Widespread public outcry against this act of brutality led the newspaper to create a version of the facts which attempted to reduce their emotional impact and maintain a positive image of the aggressive group. The methods used included: the attribution of responsibilities to the enemy, depersonalization of the victim, and an asymmetric evaluation of sufferingEste artículo analiza los argumentos y creencias publicados por un periódico vinculado a un grupo terrorista, en un intento de legitimar el secuestro y asesinato de una víctima inocente. La amplia respuesta ciudadana contra ese acto criminal obligó a ese periódico a crear una versión de los hechos en la que se intentaba tanto reducir su impacto emocional como mantener la imagen positiva del grupo agresor. Los métodos a los que recurrió fueron: la atribución de responsabilidades al enemigo, la despersonalización de la víctima y la valoración asimétrica del sufrimientoS

Variables antecedentes de la actitud hacia la reconciliación intergrupal en un contexto de conflicto armado

Background: The concept of Reconciliation as applied to inter-group conflict has come into use only recently. Throughout the history of Psychology, Reconciliation was mostly understood at the individual and inter-personal level. Method: In the present study we shall analyse the roles played by trust, negotiating attitude, legitimacy and ethnocentric attitude over the attitude towards social reconciliation. To this end we studied a group of 188 Colombian civilians living under conditions of real socio-political conflict. Results: A path analysis was performed using the statistical program AMOS whose fit indexes indicate a good fit of the model and a variance of .36. The results show that the variables of trust, negotiating attitude and legitimacy have a significant and positive effect on the reconciliation variable, and significant negative effect on the ethnocentric attitude variable. Conclusions: This study contributes to the integration of a number of variables that facilitate process of social reconciliation, as it explicitly deals with some of the perceptions, attitudes and beliefs which could change the course of a confrontationAntecedentes: el concepto Reconciliación aplicado a los conflictos intergrupales es de utilización reciente. A lo largo de la historia de la Psicología, la Reconciliación ha sido principalmente abordada desde los niveles individual e interpersonal. Método: en esta investigación analizaremos el papel de la confianza, la actitud negociadora, la legitimidad y la actitud etnocéntrica sobre la actitud hacia la reconciliación social. Para ello se contó con la colaboración de una muestra de 188 personas de población civil colombiana que vive bajo las condiciones de un conflicto sociopolítico real. Resultados: con el programa estadístico AMOS se realizó un análisis de rutas cuyos índices indican un buen ajuste del modelo y una varianza de .36. Los resultados aportan evidencia de que existen efectos positivos y significativos de las variables confianza, actitud negociadora y legitimidad sobre la variable reconciliación, y efectos negativos y significativos de la variable actitud etnocéntrica. Conclusiones: esta investigación contribuye a la integración de varias variables que facilitan el proceso de reconciliación social, puesto que hace explícitas algunas de las percepciones, actitudes y creencias a partir de las cuales se podría cambiar el curso de una confrontaciónS

Contribuciones de la Concepción Operativa de Grupo de Pichon-Rivière a la Psicología Política Latinoamericana

La Psicología Política Latinoamericana (PPL) es un campo de saberes heterogéneo, formado por múltiples referenciales teóricos y metodológicos. Sin embargo, algunas teorías no fueron incluidas en su repertorio, tal como la Concepción Operativa de Grupo de Pichon-Rivière (COGP). El objetivo de este artículo es discutir posibles contribuciones de la COGP a la PPL. Como método realizamos un estudio teórico sobre la obra de Pichon-Rivière y la PPL. Como resultados, 1) encontramos características que alejaron la PPL de la COGP, como interpretaciones sesgadas, o su omisión; 2) realizamos aproximaciones teóricas y políticas entre la COGP y un autor fundamental de la PPL, Martín-Baró; y 3) traducimos el funcionamiento del grupo de Pichon-Rivière a la PPL, proponiendo una cartografía psicopolítica de los distintos posicionamientos sociales. Concluimos que el repertorio elaborado por la COGP puede contribuir a la PPL en la constitución de un campo de análisis de colectivos y movimientos sociales.Latin American Political Psychology (PPL) is a field of knowledge composed of multiple theoretical and methodological references. However, some theories were not included in its repertoire, such as Group Operational Conception of Pichon-Rivière (GOCP). The aim of this article is to discuss possible contributions of GOCP to PPL. As a method we carried out a theoretical study on the work of Pichon-Rivière and PPL. As results, 1) we found aspects that distanced PPL from GOCP, such as biased interpretations, or its non-mention; 2) we conducted theoretical and political approaches between GOCP and a key author of PPL, Martín-Baró; and 3) we translated the group operation of Pichon-Rivière to the PPL, elaborating a psycho-political cartography of the different social positions. We conclude that the repertoire elaborated by GOCP can contribute to the PPL in the constitution of a field of analysis of collectives and social movements