Deck 8

PSYC212

What is collective action?

Coordinated efforts by group members to improve their group's conditions, status, or rights.

What is the primary goal of collective action?

Addressing inequality, injustice, and social change.

What is SIMCA?

The Social Identity Model of Collective Action.

Who developed SIMCA?

Martijn van Zomeren, Tom Postmes, and Russell Spears (2008).

What does SIMCA explain?

Why people engage in collective action.

What are the three core predictors of collective action in SIMCA?

Social identity, perceived injustice, and collective efficacy.

Social identity (SIMCA)

Identification with a social group and seeing group membership as important to the self.

Perceived injustice (SIMCA)

The belief that one's group is being treated unfairly.

Collective efficacy (SIMCA)

The belief that collective efforts can successfully create change.

Why is social identity central in SIMCA?

It links feelings of injustice and efficacy to action.

How does strong social identity influence collective action?

It increases motivation to act on behalf of the group.

What happens when perceived injustice increases?

Motivation for collective action increases.

What happens when collective efficacy increases?

People become more willing to participate in action.

Why is collective efficacy necessary for action?

People are unlikely to act if they believe change is impossible.

What role does social identity play between injustice and action?

It transforms personal concerns into group-based concerns

Why do people act collectively rather than individually?

They identify with a group facing a shared issue.

What emotional response often drives collective action?

Anger about injustice.

Why is group identification important for sustained activism?

It provides belonging, commitment, and motivation.

What is a criticism of SIMCA?

It does not fully explain how awareness of injustice develops.

Why is awareness important?

People must recognize unfairness before they are motivated to act.

What role can fear play in collective action?

Fear can either encourage or discourage participation.

What is the proposed relationship between fear and action?

A possible U-shaped relationship.

How can fear motivate collective action?

It highlights threats that require attention and response.

How can fear discourage collective action?

It can reduce feelings of efficacy and create avoidance.

Why are fear appeals sometimes ineffective?

People may feel powerless rather than motivated.

What should accompany fear-based messages?

Clear actions people can take.

Why do solutions increase the effectiveness of fear appeals?

They strengthen efficacy beliefs.

What does ESIMCA stand for?

Encapsulated Social Identity Model of Collective Action.

Who developed ESIMCA?

Emma Thomas and colleagues.

How does ESIMCA differ from SIMCA?

Social identity is treated as an outcome rather than a starting point.

According to ESIMCA, what creates social identity?

Perceptions of injustice and collective efficacy.

How does ESIMCA explain identity formation?

Shared experiences of injustice and effectiveness strengthen identification with the group.

What role do group norms play in ESIMCA?

They help shape and reinforce social identity.

What role do moral convictions play in ESIMCA?

They contribute to the development of group identity.

According to SIMCA, social identity causes perceptions of injustice and efficacy.

True.

According to ESIMCA, perceptions of injustice and efficacy contribute to social identity.

True.

What is the key theoretical difference between SIMCA and ESIMCA?

The direction of causality involving social identity.

SIMCA causal pathway

Social identity → injustice and efficacy → collective action.

ESIMCA causal pathway

Injustice and efficacy → social identity → collective action.

Why is social identity powerful in both models?

It motivates people to act for collective rather than personal interests.

How does collective efficacy influence persistence?

People continue acting when they believe success is possible.

Why are successful social movements likely to have strong collective efficacy?

Members believe their actions matter.

What is the relationship between injustice and anger?

Perceived injustice often produces anger that motivates action.

Why is anger considered an action-oriented emotion?

It encourages people to confront problems rather than withdraw.

How do moral convictions strengthen collective action?

They make issues feel personally important and non-negotiable.

What is the role of group norms in activism?

They define what behaviours are expected and supported.

How can social identity increase participation in protests?

People act to support and defend their group.

Why are people more likely to join movements with strong group identities?

Shared identity provides meaning and solidarity.

How does collective action differ from individual action?

It involves coordinated efforts by multiple people acting as a group.

What psychological process is common to both SIMCA and ESIMCA?

Social identity processes.

How does collective action differ from intergroup contact?

Collective action seeks social change, while contact seeks improved relations.

What is the primary goal of intergroup contact?

Reducing prejudice and improving intergroup relations.

What is the primary goal of collective action?

Reducing inequality and achieving social change.

Why can intergroup contact reduce collective action among disadvantaged groups?

It may reduce perceptions of injustice.

What is the Sedative Effect?

Positive contact can reduce support for collective action among disadvantaged groups.

Why is it called the Sedative Effect?

Contact may lessen feelings of injustice and urgency for change.

How can friendships with majority-group members affect activism?

They may reduce willingness to participate in collective action.

How can positive contact reduce awareness of discrimination?

It encourages focus on positive interpersonal experiences.

Why can contact obscure inequality?

Similarities become more noticeable than status differences.

How can reduced perceptions of injustice affect activism?

Motivation for collective action decreases.

How can intergroup contact and collective action complement one another?

Contact can improve relationships while collective action addresses structural inequality.

Why is balancing contact and collective action important?

Harmony alone may not solve systemic inequality.

What is the overall lesson of SIMCA and ESIMCA?

Collective action depends on social identity, perceptions of injustice, and beliefs that change is possible.

What is the overall lesson from collective action research?

Social change is most likely when people identify with a group, perceive injustice, and believe collective efforts can make a difference.