The Effect of Group Identification and Emotion on Participation in Collective Action

In the last few years, the number of collective actions in the United States started to increase. These events have been ranging from peaceful to violent. The present research aims to understand what is causing groups to participate in collective action and become aggressive. It will expand understanding of group identification, emotion, and participation in collective action. The researcher hypothesizes that individuals who hold higher identification with a group are more likely to experience anger and participate in a protest. Data collection involved an online survey. Introductory psychology students read a passage describing a protest and respond to several short questionnaires. Based on the condition, the students read a passage describing protests at Loyola University or a neighboring school. The passages also varied the levels of intensity of the protests ranging from peaceful to violent. The researcher hypothesized that participants would be more likely to participate in a protest involving their ingroup (home university) and when violence was minimized. Results were consistent with hypotheses and are discussed in terms of how they can be used to help prevent violence in collective action situations