The emotional actor: An investigation of the impact of past collective action and emotions on future action intentions and choices

Abstract

The impact of past collective action and emotions in predicting conventional and radical action intentions for defending marriage equality laws investigated using a survey of 163 Americans on the Amazon Mechanical Turk survey platform. Participants were exposed to manipulations of the conventionality, either conventional or radical, and the outcome, either successful or failed, of a hypothetical collective action they had engaged in to assess the novel untested DIME model. Emotional responses to the manipulated outcomes were measured including anger, sadness, contempt, guilt, shame, fear, and pride to assess possible indirect causal pathways in which success of the initial action should predict the experience of emotion, which in turn should predict increased or reduced conventional and/or radical action intentions. Results indicated no impact of conventionality of the initial action on collective action intentions. However, a strong effect of success was identified for predicting each emotion, with a successful outcome of initial action predicting less anger, sadness, contempt, guilt, shame, and fear, and predicting greater pride. Furthermore, indirect effects of pride and fear were identified in predicting collective action intentions. Success promoted the experience of pride, which in turn increased conventional and radical action intentions. On the other hand, fear was reduced following success, which in turned reduced and demotivated conventional action intentions. Implications of these results are discussed for the DIME model and collective action theory, as well as practical considerations for managing and improving engagement by in-group members within relevant political movements