Lecture 5 - Social Change

Question 1

Consequences

Answer 1

• self esteem is tied to social identity
  > lower group status = lower self esteem
  > e.g. perceived pervasive sexism is related to lower esteem among women (Branscome et al 2002)
• what can one do?
  > leave the group or hide your group membership
  > reappropriation of stigmatising labels (Galinsky et al 2013)
  > challenge system and engage in collective action

Question 2

Definitions

Answer 2

• social change - transformation over time of institutions and culture of a society (giddens et al 2011)
• social change is the struggle between those in social power and domination and those who collectively challenge the status
• social change is the process of psych change in peoples understanding of themselves and others in the broader context of intergroup relations (Subasic et al 2008)
• ## collective action = any action that individuals undertake as psychological group members (part of their social identity) and with the subjective goal to improve their groups conditions

Question 3

social identity model of collective action

Answer 3

moral beliefs and/or group identity > injustice/anger or group efficacy > collective action

• collective action motivations (Van Zomeren et al 2008)

Question 4

group identity

Answer 4

• A psychological group membership that motivates us to do something
• SIT
• people view themselves and context in group terms. they are morivated to protect, maintain and enhance their group interests
• group vs politicised identification
• identification with a category vs. identity situated in a common belief, shared values and norms

Question 5

group efficacy

Answer 5

• rational choice (not) to engage in collective actions - there are costs so believe it is better to sit and reap benefits (free riders, olson 1968)
• people engage in actions that produce more benefits
• group efficacy beliefs: the group is able to achieve goals via group effort (Bandura 1997), people still have rational choice but is about the sense of power and possibility as a group in doing somehtinf
• what do people want to achieve in collective action?
  > influence gov leaders & policy
  > influence public opinion and build movement
  > express values

Question 6

group based injustice and anger

Answer 6

• about thinking of what has happened as well as our own and groups position in society
• objective inequality vs subjective experiences of inequality within a group that may be targeted by inequality
• it is important to ask whether people perceive the inequality as unfair or ok
• relative deprivation theory - feelings of deprivation/injustice develop through comparison
• group based deprivation inc feelings of injustice & anger

Question 7

moral beliefs

Answer 7

• there are moral values that motivate e.g. equality, fairness etc
• moral convictions: individuals’ strong and subjectively absolutist belief about what is right and wrong
• individuals who moralise the issue at hand are likely to be motivated to protect and defend these moral beliefs
• different strength of attitudes (moral) are greater predictors of behaviour
• shared moral beliefs bring people together but can also break them apart

Question 8

limitations and open questions of social identity model of collective action

Answer 8

• WEIRD samples not rep
• Collective protests may not be approved and against cultural norms = not represented
• consequences of collective action (psych effects)
• initial work only focussed on people who belong to one category but many people join who may not even belong to the category so need to understand why people engage in allyship - engaging in actions to improve the status of another group

Question 9

collective action in repressive contexts

Answer 9

• high risk contexts - engagement is associated with severe dangers inc legal physical & financial risks (ayanian & Tausvh 2016)
• people see the risks but this can be more motivating as see the situation as unjust which fuel protests
• therefore in some contexts repression can silence people but in others more people can join and protest against repression

Question 10

collective action - consequences

Answer 10

• non-normative actions - go against norms, rules and laws of a country
• violent actions may inc destruction of property and/or harm to others
• what is normative and violent depends on context and observers
• Feinberg et al (2020) - obersvers reactions to extreme protest actions
  > observers perception of actions as harmful = less support
  > majority of protests are peaceful and wont be reported in news
  > put social and financial pressure on institutions to change status quo
  > raise awareness among general public
• backfire effect - people inc trump support if anti-trump protests were extreme/violent BUT more extreme movements can inc support for moderate protests (radical flank effect - subgroups inc support for moderate protest because thet still support the values & goals so attend normative protest)

Question 11

allyship

Answer 11

• third parties are not just observing but are actively engaging in actions
• allies are members of dif groups who engage in actions with/for another group
• why? common shared goal, minority groups may understand experience
• allies should understand & know their privilege
• from multiple perspectives approach: Kutlaca et al 2020 - privileged group may help actions but may not know how to do things properly. need to know how activist group feels about allies
• disadvantaged group perspective - ‘ideal allies’ (Ashburn nando 2018)
  > understanding inequality and challenging vs responding to disadv groups needs
• allies perspective (Louis et al 2019) - may act in own interest even if trying to help (paternalistic way makign them depend on you as an ally)

Question 12

allyship: benefits and cons

Answer 12

• allies may be effective in facilitating social change
  > may have more power and influence on authorities
  > intentions/motivations may be sincere but often do not join because they are altruistic
• what if allies join the protest? (kutlaca et al 2020)
  > does larger presence of high sttaus group members motivate others to join protests for social equality
  > more alies you see an inc in members supporting the movement (advocating)
• BUT droogendyk et al (2016) - allies can engage in problematic behaviours
  > make themselves centre of attention
  > act only when they have something to gain
  > performative allyship

Question 13

motivations of allyship

Answer 13

• Radke et al (2020)
• some are allies because of their moral values in inequality and reject unequal status
• many engage to gain something (popularity, approval)
• can lead to preserving status differenves