Developing efficacy and emotion routes to solidarity-based and violent collective action

This thesis follows two independent lines of investigation on social psychological predictors of collective action, focusing on solidarity-based action among bystander groups in the first part, and violent forms of collective action in the second part. In Studies 1-3, I examine predictors of collective action among third parties in solidarity with a disadvantaged group by extending a recent model which proposes two pathways to collective action, one emotion-based and the other efficacy-based (van Zomeren, Spears, Fischer, & Leach, 2004). I show that moral outrage and feelings of empathy with a disadvantaged group play an important role in predicting solidarity-based collective action tendencies, while sympathy seems to be an unreliable predictor. I also provide evidence that the perceived efficacy of collective action at consolidating the identity of the protesting movement can influence collective action tendencies directly but also indirectly by feeding into perceptions of the action’s political efficacy. In Studies 4-7, I examine whether the pursuit of violent forms of collective action is subject to considerations regarding the efficacy of both violent and nonviolent forms of action, and the interaction between these two. I show that violence support and violent action tendencies are generally positively predicted by violence efficacy but not consistently negatively predicted by nonviolence efficacy, as nonviolence efficacy and violence efficacy appear to interact in some contexts (Studies 4-6). Importantly, my studies reveal that people are more supportive of violent action the more efficacious it seems, even if nonviolent action is also a promising strategy. Further, when violent action seems to have low efficacy, people may still support its pursuit if they deem nonviolence to have low efficacy as well. Overall, the findings of this thesis contribute to current scholarly efforts at identifying novel predictors of collective action as well as predictors of different forms of collective action

Acting in solidarity: testing an extended dual-pathway model of collective action by bystander group members

We examined predictors of collective action among bystander group members in solidarity with a disadvantaged group by extending the dual pathway model of collective action, which proposes one efficacy-based and one emotion-based path to collective action (van Zomeren, Spears, Fischer, & Leach, 2004). Based on two proposed functions of social identity performance (Klein, Spears, & Reicher, 2007), we distinguished between the efficacy of collective action at consolidating the identity of a protest movement and its efficacy at achieving social change (political efficacy). We expected identity consolidation efficacy to positively predict collective action tendencies directly and indirectly via political efficacy. We also expected collective action tendencies to be positively predicted by moral outrage and by sympathy in response to disadvantaged outgroup’s suffering. These hypotheses were supported in two surveys examining intentions to protest for Palestine in Britain (Study 1), and intentions to attend the June 4th vigil in Hong Kong to commemorate the Tiananmen massacre among a sample of Hong Kong citizens (Study 2). The contributions of these findings to research on the dual pathway model of collective action and the different functions of collective action are discussed.PostprintPeer reviewe

"I have a dream": A typology of social change goals

publication-status: PublishedThis is an open access article that is freely available in ORE or from the publisher's web site. Please cite the published version.To date, there is little in the way of theorizing or empirical work on the imagined endpoint of political action aimed at social change – the type of “dream” those engaged in action are attempting to bring into fruition. We suggest that previous approaches have focused narrowly on one type of social change – amelioration of collective grievances. In contrast, we argue that social change is much richer and imaginative than this narrow focus suggests. In the present article we draw on key constructs in social psychology (e.g., goals, efficacy, legitimacy, identity, social system, and social value) in order to develop a typology of social change goals. In doing so, we explain why people might support one type of social change (e.g., revolution) versus others (e.g., separatism or amelioration). The typology is used to discuss future directions for research and to highlight the implications for psychological (and broader) approaches to social change.ESRC overseas visitors awar

Acting in solidarity: testing an extended dual pathway model of collective action by bystander group members

We examined predictors of collective action among bystander group members in solidarity with a disadvantaged group by extending the dual pathway model of collective action, which proposes one efficacy-based and one emotion-based path to collective action (Van Zomeren, Spears, Fischer, & Leach, 2004). Based on two proposed functions of social identity performance (Klein, Spears, & Reicher, 2007), we distinguished between the efficacy of collective action at consolidating the identity of a protest movement and its efficacy at achieving social change (political efficacy). We expected identity consolidation efficacy to positively predict collective action tendencies directly and indirectly via political efficacy. We also expected collective action tendencies to be positively predicted by moral outrage and by sympathy in response to disadvantaged outgroup's suffering. These hypotheses were supported in two surveys examining intentions to protest for Palestine in Britain (Study 1), and intentions to attend the June 4th vigil in Hong Kong to commemorate the Tiananmen massacre among a sample of Hong Kong citizens (Study 2). The contributions of these findings to research on the dual pathway model of collective action and the different functions of collective action are discusse

Turning the lens in the study of precarity: On experimental social psychology's acquiescence to the settler-colonial status quo in historic Palestine

This review examines the coloniality infused within the conduct and third reporting of experimental research in what is commonly referred to as the ‘Israeli-Palestinian conflict’. Informed by a settler colonial framework and decolonial theory, our review measured the appearance of sociopolitical terms and critically analysed the reconciliation measures. We found that papers were three times more likely to describe the context through the framework of intractable conflict compared to occupation. Power asymmetry was often acknowledged and then flattened via, for instance, adjacent mentions of Israeli and Palestinian physical violence. Two-thirds of the dependent variables were not related to material claims (e.g. land, settlements, or Palestinian refugees) but rather to the feelings and attitudes of Jewish Israelis and Palestinians. Of the dependent measures that did consider material issues, they nearly universally privileged conditions of the two-state solution and compromises on refugees' right of return that would violate international law. The majority of the studies sampled Jewish–Israeli participants exclusively, and the majority of authors were affiliated with Israeli institutions. We argue that for social psychology to offer insights that coincide with the decolonization of historic Palestine, the discipline will have to begin by contextualizing its research within the material conditions and history that socially stratify the groups

Predicting aggressive collective action based on the efficacy of peaceful and aggressive actions

We examine whether aggressive forms of collective action are predicted by their perceived efficacy and the perceived efficacy of peaceful collective action, and whether the two predictors interact. We present data from surveys examining support for and tendencies toward aggressive collective action among university students opposed to increases in tuition fees in Britain (Study 1), and support for suicide bombings against Israeli civilians among Palestinians during the second Intifada (Study 2). Our results reveal an interaction between the efficacy of peaceful and aggressive collective actions: the more efficacious aggression is perceived to be, the greater its appeal and the less it is assuaged by the efficacy of peaceful action. This implies that 1) people may consider aggressive action whenever it works, even if peaceful action is efficacious, and 2) people may consider aggressive action even when it seems unpromising, if peaceful action is not efficacious, in an apparent nothing-to-lose strategy.PostprintPeer reviewe

Political psychology in the Arab region: a commentary on navigating research in unstable contexts from Part IV - Diversifying Perspectives in Political Psychology

This chapter examines the history, challenges, and future of political psychology research in the Arab region, and argues that lack of attention to such regions is detrimental not only for these regions, but also for Western research and for the discipline as a whole