Premium
Protesting to challenge or defend the system? A system justification perspective on collective action
Author(s) -
Osborne Danny,
Jost John T.,
Becker Julia C.,
Badaan Vivienne,
Sibley Chris G.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.2522
Subject(s) - collective action , status quo , system justification , social psychology , injustice , social identity theory , perspective (graphical) , collective identity , anger , action (physics) , psychology , collective efficacy , identification (biology) , identity (music) , social group , political science , law , physics , botany , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , ideology , politics , computer science , acoustics , biology
Social identity, shared grievances, and group efficacy beliefs are well‐known antecedents to collective action, but existing research overlooks the fact that collective action often involves a confrontation between those who are motivated to defend the status quo and those who seek to challenge it. Using nationally representative data from New Zealand (Study 1; N = 16,147) and a large online sample from the United States (Study 2; N = 1,513), we address this oversight and demonstrate that system justification is negatively associated with system‐challenging collective action, but positively associated with system‐supporting collective action, for members of both low‐status and high‐status groups. Group identification, group‐based injustice, group‐based anger, and system‐based dissatisfaction/anger mediated these relationships. These findings constitute the first empirical integration of system justification theory into a model of collective action that explains when people will act collectively to challenge—and, just as importantly, defend—the status quo.