68 research outputs found
Being active, but not an activist: Managing problematic aspects of activist identity by expressing individuality, or taking alternative forms of collective action
No full textDrawing on social identity and self-categorization approaches to collective action from social psychology, and social movement theory from sociology, the empirical studies in this thesis investigate the identities and experiences of those engaged (and disengaged) in various social movements in Australia - including environmentalisms, international aid and development, human rights, and animal rights movements. The participants were at various points of commitment to these social movements - from being sympathetic, to actively engaged, and even in leadership positions. The two research aims were to: 1) expand current understandings of the ways that problematic aspects of social identity content and identity boundaries can prevent sympathizers from engaging in collective actions; and 2) examine strategies those committed to collective action use to manage problematic aspects of their social identities, and how they establish a unique contribution to social change in contrast to other social movement groups. Each of these questions speak to the other in that they centre on the ways that a narrowly defined but shared understanding of the “activist” or “protester” constrains and shapes alternative means of pursuing social change.
The empirical work consists of four studies. Study 1 is a qualitative analysis of materials and interviews with members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. I examined how members rhetorically construct their identities in order to frame their cause as legitimate, and how members come to personally identify themselves as members of the organization in a way that allows them to manage potential conflicts between multiple identities – as individuals, and as group members. Study 2 uses an inductive open-ended survey to understand how social barriers can shape people’s willingness to participate in collective actions during their early socialization into social movement groups. Study 3 is a quantitative analysis of survey data, using themes from Study 2, which demonstrates how stereotypes of activists can influence individuals’ identification as activists. Study 4 is an interview study with experienced activists, coordinators, and advocates of various social movement organizations. In this study it was found that people experienced in collective action can distinguish themselves from a primarily protest-based activist identity in order to establish their unique contribution to the broader movement, and also maintain feelings of personal satisfaction.
The contributions of this thesis are that it establishes a more nuanced understanding of the types of identity routes available to people who want to engage in collective action – such as an advocacy route, contrasted to the activist route. The thesis also concludes with a discussion of the need to understand transitionary socialization processes when people attempt to join social movement organizations, and it makes suggestions for developing a model of conversionary collective action – which is what participants termed the “quiet” approach to social change
Not all negative: Macro justice principles predict positive attitudes towards asylum seekers in Australia
No full textThis is an electronic version of an article published in Anderson, J. R., Stuart, A. and Rossen, I. (2015), Not all negative: Macro justice principles predict positive attitudes towards asylum seekers in Australia. Australian Jnl of Psychology, 67: 207–213. doi: 10.1111/ajpy.12085Public opinion toward asylum seekers within Australia has become increasingly hostile over the past decade. In particular, such negative attitudes are associated with questioning the legitimacy of those who seek asylum, and the fairness of granting their refugee status. In a sample of 100 students (Mage=22.83 years, SDage=8.26 years) we tested the role of macro and micro principles of social justice in predicting attitudes toward asylum seekers, beyond the established role of social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). Using multiple hierarchical regression analyses, we show that macro justice social principles (i.e., the belief in equal distribution of resources across a society) predict positive attitudes toward asylum seekers beyond the variation accounted for by SDO and RWA in predicting negative attitudes. These results underscore the importance of taking into account individual orientations toward justice; we argue that these findings have important implications for the development of communication designed to reduce prejudice toward asylum seekers
Beyond ‘nothing to hide’: when identity is key to privacy threat under surveillance
No full textThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.Privacy is psychologically important, vital for democracy, and in the era of ubiquitous and mobile
surveillance technology, facing increasingly complex threats and challenges. Yet surveillance is often
justified under a trope that one has “nothing to hide”. We conducted focus groups (N=42) on topics
of surveillance and privacy, and using discursive analysis, identify the ideological assumptions and
the positions that people adopt to make sense of their participation in a surveillance society. We find
a premise that surveillance is increasingly inescapable, but this was only objected to when people
reported feeling misrepresented, or where they had an inability to withhold aspects of identities.
The (in)visibility of the surveillance technology also complicated how surveillance is constructed.
Those interested in engaging the public in debates about surveillance may be better served by
highlighting the identity consequences of surveillance, rather than constructing surveillance as a
generalised privacy threat
Choosing to conform: The discursive complexities of choice in relation to feminine beauty practices
No full textThere exists the idea that western societies are now postfeminist, implying that remaining differences between men and women should be understood as a result of the free exercise of individual choice. Yet this postfeminist promise of liberation is overwhelmingly packaged within the crushingly cruel beauty images that western women are judged against and incited to emulate. Theorizing female agency in light of choice and liberation discourses has been the topic of much recent feminist literature, to which this article seeks to contribute. We utilized a feminist post-structuralist framework to examine how young Australian women position themselves as freely choosing and able to throw off oppression. We discuss these findings in relation to the conception of the neoliberal feminine subject; described as someone who playfully expresses herself by freely choosing her level of participation in socially promoted beauty practices; in turn resulting in a resistance to being seen as inflexible, or critical of wider social influences</jats:p
Gender and psychology
No full textThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.This chapter summarises the psychological research on gender. The first part of the chapter focusses on experimental and social constructivist psychology and discusses what psychological differences are found between genders and the different approaches put forward to explain these differences. These approaches include essentialist theories which argue that gender differences arise from evolutionary adaptations, and constructivist theories, which argue that gender differences are the result of cultural and contextual influences. We discuss the extent to which these approaches can explain gender differences in general, but also patterns of gender differences across cultures. The second part of this chapter discusses psychological research that adopts social constructionist approaches to studying gender, and outlines examples of discourse and conversation analytic research on the (re)production of gender in language and interactions. Finally, we will discuss how the retention of multiple perspectives and research methods by gender researchers is important for moving beyond additive (and dichotomous) models of gender, and beyond a European/US centric view
Circle app design study materials (SERVICE project)
No full textScreenshots and study materials from user studies (interviews and usability trial) conducted in the early design of the Circle app v1, for the SERVICE project
SERVICE is a non-profit academic effort to understand and support the emotional needs of older adults impacted by COVID-19.
1-SERVICE_concept video... contains the video used in the first focus group study.
2-App screens all smaller...contains the app wireframes used in the second concept study.
3-Circle app version one - contains screenshots of the app used in the third study, the usability trial.
The publication linked to these studies has not yet been released.
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“I Don't Really Want to Be Associated With the Self-Righteous Left Extreme”: Disincentives to Participation in Collective Action
No full textThis paper considers collective action non-participation by people sympathetic but not committed to participating in actions for social change (‘sympathisers’). We conducted a thematic analysis of open-ended written accounts of the barriers to participating in sustained collective action (N = 112), finding that people can be reluctant to engage in some types of collective action. Participants wrote about the potential for detrimental consequences resulting from association with ‘protesters’, concern that they may be undermined by ‘extreme’ fringes of a movement, ambivalence about the visible performance of group normative behaviours (specifically, protesting), and trepidation about ‘loss of self’ within a group. We discuss the findings in relation to theory on social (dis)identification, social (dis)incentives, and identity performances, arguing that inaction does not necessarily stem from apathy. Rather, people may engage in motivated inaction – that is, active avoidance of some types of actions, or from affiliations with particular groups, as a response to negative inferences about the legitimacy or efficacy of some forms of collective action. Practical strategies are suggested for groups and individuals, including the potential for people to take actions for social change independently of a formally organised movement
Not all negative: Macro justice principles predict positive attitudes towards asylum seekers in Australia
No full textPublic opinion toward asylum seekers within Australia has become increasingly hostile over the past decade. In particular, such negative attitudes are associated with questioning the legitimacy of those who seek asylum, and the fairness of granting their refugee status. In a sample of 100 students (Mage=22.83 years, SDage=8.26 years) we tested the role of macro and micro principles of social justice in predicting attitudes toward asylum seekers, beyond the established role of social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). Using multiple hierarchical regression analyses, we show that macro justice social principles (i.e., the belief in equal distribution of resources across a society) predict positive attitudes toward asylum seekers beyond the variation accounted for by SDO and RWA in predicting negative attitudes. These results underscore the importance of taking into account individual orientations toward justice; we argue that these findings have important implications for the development of communication designed to reduce prejudice toward asylum seekers
Dataset from Field Trial on Wellbeing and Loneliness in Older Adults in the UK
No full textWellbeing data and social network information entered by participants via a smartphone app, over 2 weeks. Surveys taken at beginning, mid and end of 2 weeks that assess psychometrics. Data connected via an anonymised user id. All data were collected under a study approved by the Nottingham Trent University psychology research ethics committee, with permission from participants to share anonymised data.</div
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