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Group belongingness and collective action: Effects of need to belong and rejection sensitivity on willingness to participate in protest activities

Bäck, Emma LU ; Bäck, Hanna LU orcid and Knapton, Holly LU (2015) In Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 56(5). p.537-544
Abstract
Engaging in political protests are becoming increasingly common, and considering the potential, individual, costs and the low probability of affecting the political outcome, it is necessary to understand the motivations behind such actions. The desire to be part of a social group is deeply rooted in human nature, and previous research proposes that the groups one belongs to may influence the decision to engage in protests. We build on this research and suggest that social exclusion, individual fear of exclusion and need to belong interact in explaining who is likely to become engaged. In two studies, one natural experiment and one lab-experiment, we show that social exclusion increase willingness to participate in protests for individuals... (More)
Engaging in political protests are becoming increasingly common, and considering the potential, individual, costs and the low probability of affecting the political outcome, it is necessary to understand the motivations behind such actions. The desire to be part of a social group is deeply rooted in human nature, and previous research proposes that the groups one belongs to may influence the decision to engage in protests. We build on this research and suggest that social exclusion, individual fear of exclusion and need to belong interact in explaining who is likely to become engaged. In two studies, one natural experiment and one lab-experiment, we show that social exclusion increase willingness to participate in protests for individuals high in both rejection sensitivity and need to belong. We conclude that contextual factors, such as exclusion or marginalization should be considered in relation to individual level personality factors when explaining who is likely to become engaged in political protests. These results are important since they suggest that some people engage in politics simply due to social reasons and are less ideologically motivated. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Collective action, personality, social exclusion, rejection
in
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
volume
56
issue
5
pages
537 - 544
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:26031961
  • wos:000364596100009
  • scopus:84941599916
  • pmid:26031961
ISSN
1467-9450
DOI
10.1111/sjop.12225
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cf32b1f4-cb31-42ab-ae3c-efeb325a8608 (old id 8383487)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 09:52:32
date last changed
2024-01-20 23:03:47
@article{cf32b1f4-cb31-42ab-ae3c-efeb325a8608,
  abstract     = {{Engaging in political protests are becoming increasingly common, and considering the potential, individual, costs and the low probability of affecting the political outcome, it is necessary to understand the motivations behind such actions. The desire to be part of a social group is deeply rooted in human nature, and previous research proposes that the groups one belongs to may influence the decision to engage in protests. We build on this research and suggest that social exclusion, individual fear of exclusion and need to belong interact in explaining who is likely to become engaged. In two studies, one natural experiment and one lab-experiment, we show that social exclusion increase willingness to participate in protests for individuals high in both rejection sensitivity and need to belong. We conclude that contextual factors, such as exclusion or marginalization should be considered in relation to individual level personality factors when explaining who is likely to become engaged in political protests. These results are important since they suggest that some people engage in politics simply due to social reasons and are less ideologically motivated.}},
  author       = {{Bäck, Emma and Bäck, Hanna and Knapton, Holly}},
  issn         = {{1467-9450}},
  keywords     = {{Collective action; personality; social exclusion; rejection}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{537--544}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Scandinavian Journal of Psychology}},
  title        = {{Group belongingness and collective action: Effects of need to belong and rejection sensitivity on willingness to participate in protest activities}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12225}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/sjop.12225}},
  volume       = {{56}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}