Ideology and the promotion of social change

Do conspiracy beliefs fuel support for reactionary social movements? Effects of misbeliefs on actions to oppose lockdown and to "stop the steal"

Pundits have speculated that the spread of conspiracies and misinformation (termed "misbeliefs") is leading to a resurgence of right-wing, reactionary movements. However, the current empirical picture regarding the relationship between misbeliefs and collective action is mixed. We help clarify these associations by using two waves of data collected during the COVID-19 Pandemic (in Australia, N = 519, and the United States, N = 510) and democratic elections (in New Zealand N = 603, and the United States N = 609) to examine the effects of misbeliefs on support for reactionary movements (e.g., anti-lockdown protests, Study 1; anti-election protests, Study 2). Results reveal that within-person changes in misbeliefs correlate positively with support for reactionary collective action both directly (Studies 1-2) and indirectly by shaping the legitimacy of the authority (Study 1b). The relationship between misbelief and legitimacy is, however, conditioned by the stance of the authority in question: the association is positive when authorities endorse misbeliefs (Study 1a) and negative when they do not (Study 1b). Thus, the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and action hinges upon the alignment of the content of the conspiracy and the goals of the collective action.

How ingroup norms of multiculturalism (and tolerance) affect intergroup solidarity: The role of ideology

Multiculturalism and tolerance, as two sets of normative beliefs about how to deal with intergroup diversity, have been recognized as effective at reducing outgroup negativity among majority group members. However, whether majority group members' normative beliefs regarding them might motivate their solidarity-based collective actions and how their political ideology might qualify this influence remained unclear. To answer these questions, we conducted two pre-registered experimental studies (N = 626), both zooming in on the multiculturalism issues in the context of the relationships between native Dutch citizens and citizens with a Moroccan background within Dutch university campuses (Study 1) and broader Dutch society (Study 2). In both studies, we found an ingroup norm of tolerance (vs. control) undermined majority group members' engagement in collective actions in support of ethnic minorities. Additionally, ideological leftists were more sensitive to norms than rightists: Study 1 showed a facilitative effect of the multiculturalism norm (vs. control) on solidarity-based collective action intentions particularly among leftists, whilst Study 2 revealed a dampening effect of the tolerance norm (vs. control) on these intentions particularly among leftists.

Profiles of an Ideal Society: The Utopian Visions of Ordinary People

Throughout history, people have expressed the desire for an ideal society—a utopia. These imagined societies have motivated action for social change. Recent research has demonstrated this motivational effect among ordinary people in English-speaking countries, but we know little about the specific content of ordinary people’s utopian visions in different cultures. Here we report that a majority of samples from four countries—Australia, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States—converge on a small number of utopian visions: a Modern Green utopia, a Primitivist utopia, a Futurist utopia, and a Religious utopia. Although the prevalence of these utopia profiles differed across countries, there was a cross-cultural convergence in utopian visions. These shared visions may provide common ground for conversations about how to achieve a better future across cultural borders.

Cognitive-motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts

Healthy democratic polities feature competing visions of a good society but also require some level of cooperation and institutional trust. Democracy is at risk when citizens become so polarized that an 'us versus them' mentality dominates. Despite a vast multidisciplinary literature, no coherent conceptual framework of the microlevel dynamics that increase or decrease polarization has been presented. In this Review, we provide a conceptual framework to integrate scientific knowledge about cognitive-motivational mechanisms that influence political polarization and the social-communicative contexts in which they are enacted. Ego-justifying and group-justifying motives lead individuals to defend their own pre-existing beliefs and those of their in-group, respectively. However, a distinct class of system-justifying motives contributes to asymmetric forms of polarization. Whereas conservative-rightist ideology is associated with valuing tradition, social order and maintenance of the status quo, liberal-leftist ideology is associated with a push for egalitarian social change. These cognitive-motivational mechanisms interact with social influence processes linked to communication source, message and channel factors, all of which might contribute to increased or decreased polarization. We conclude with a discussion of unanswered questions and ways in which our framework can be extended to the study of culture and institutions.

Dominate others, hurt self: Social dominance orientation predicts depression during the COVID-19 pandemic

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic threatens physical and psychological health. We examined whether social dominance orientation (SDO), a preference for inequality among social groups, contributes to mental health during the pandemic. In particular, we predicted that people high in SDO would experience higher levels of depression than others low in SDO. Our results (N = 2008) showed that SDO was positively associated with depression. In addition, participants' perceived lifestyle changes moderated the association between SDO and depression. We also discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the current work.

Support for group-based inequality among members of low-status groups as an ingroup status-enhancement strategy

We discuss the idea that competition-based motives boost low-status group members’ support for group-based hierarchy and inequality. Specifically, the more low-status group members feel motivated to compete with a relevant high-status outgroup, based on the belief that existing status positions may be reversed, the more they will defend status differentials (i.e., high social dominance orientation; SDO). Using minimal groups (N = 113), we manipulated ingroup (low vs. high) status, and primed unstable status positions to all participants. As expected, we found that SDO positively mediates the relation between ingroup identification and collective action, when ingroup’s status is perceived to be low and status positions are perceived as highly unstable. We discuss the implications of considering situational and contextual factors to better understand individuals’ support for group-based hierarchies and inequality, and the advantages of considering ideological processes in predicting collective action.

Ideological and psychological predictors of COVID-19-related collective action, opinions, and health compliance across three nations

Until vaccines or treatments are widely available and used, behavioral change (e.g. social distancing) on an unparalleled collective scale is the chief way to curb the spread of COVID-19. Relying on ideology and collective action models as conceptual frameworks, in the present study the role of ideological and psychological factors in COVID-19-related opinions, health compliance behaviors, and collective action were examined in three countries. Results, examining country as a moderator, showed some politically conservative orientations, especially social dominance orientation, relate to less collective action, less support of measures to manage COVID-19, and lower compliance. Variables, including empathy for those affected by COVID-19 and group efficacy also predicted COVID-19-related attitudes and behavior. Belief in science and perceived risk also emerged as key factors to impact compliance-related attitudes and behaviors. Implications for motivating collective compliance are discussed.

Motivational and affective drivers of right-wing populism support: Insights from an Austrian presidential election

Research has identified political disenchantment as an important driver for the recent spread of right-wing populism. The cultural backlash approach explains this relationship as a counter response to progressive socio-political developments in Western societies. Drawing on previous work, the present research examines motivational and affective factors underlying the support of right-wing populist parties. We hypothesize that a perceived alienation from the symbolic architecture of a society may decrease levels of psychological need satisfaction, which may catalyze into anxiety and anger. As the “political system” represents an important reflective surface for the socio-political status quo, we expected lower levels of need satisfaction and its resulting affective consequences to help explain the relationship between political disenchantment and right-wing populist support. We tested these tenets based on data from the 2016 Austrian presidential election (n = 626). The results of a structural equation model corroborated our predictions with some exceptions. Data indicated a negative relationship between political disenchantment and need satisfaction. Moreover, decreased need satisfaction was associated with increased self-reported anxiety and anger. Political disenchantment indirectly predicted support for a right-wing populist presidential candidate through decreased need satisfaction and anger, thus corroborating the role of anger as an important driver underlying right-wing populism support. Counterintuitively, the data indicated a negative relationship between anxiety and right-wing support. We discuss theoretical and practical implications, as well as limitations stemming from sample characteristics and the employed cross-sectional design.