TY - JOUR
T1 - Failure Leads Protest Movements to Support More Radical Tactics
AU - Louis, Winnifred R.
AU - Lizzio-Wilson, Morgana
AU - Cibich, Mikaela
AU - McGarty, Craig
AU - Thomas, Emma F.
AU - Amiot, Catherine E.
AU - Weber, Nathan
AU - Rhee, Joshua
AU - Davies, Grace
AU - Rach, Timothy
AU - Goh, Syasya
AU - McMaster, Zoe
AU - Muldoon, Orla
AU - Howe, Naoimh
AU - Moghaddam, Fathali
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2022/4
Y1 - 2022/4
N2 - Most social movements will encounter setbacks in their pursuit of sociopolitical change. However, little is known about how movements are affected after protestors fail to achieve their aims. What are the effects of failure on subsequent engagement in various conventional and radical actions? Does failure promote divergent reactions among protestors and/or dissatisfaction with democracy? A meta-analysis of nine experiments (N = 1,663) assessed the effects of one-off failure on protestors’ reactions, subsequent tactical choices, and support for democracy; and iterative stochastic simulations modeled the effects of failure over multiple protests over time. Results indicated that initial failure gives rise to divergent, somewhat contradictory responses among protestors and that these responses are further influenced by the repeated failure (vs. success) over time. Further, the simulations identified “tipping points” in these responses that promote radicalization and undermine support for democracy.
AB - Most social movements will encounter setbacks in their pursuit of sociopolitical change. However, little is known about how movements are affected after protestors fail to achieve their aims. What are the effects of failure on subsequent engagement in various conventional and radical actions? Does failure promote divergent reactions among protestors and/or dissatisfaction with democracy? A meta-analysis of nine experiments (N = 1,663) assessed the effects of one-off failure on protestors’ reactions, subsequent tactical choices, and support for democracy; and iterative stochastic simulations modeled the effects of failure over multiple protests over time. Results indicated that initial failure gives rise to divergent, somewhat contradictory responses among protestors and that these responses are further influenced by the repeated failure (vs. success) over time. Further, the simulations identified “tipping points” in these responses that promote radicalization and undermine support for democracy.
KW - collective action failure
KW - collective action outcomes
KW - collective action participation
KW - protest
KW - radical collective action
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114414025&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/19485506211037296
DO - 10.1177/19485506211037296
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85114414025
SN - 1948-5506
VL - 13
SP - 675
EP - 687
JO - Social Psychological and Personality Science
JF - Social Psychological and Personality Science
IS - 3
ER -