When Will We Join the Road Blockade?

What is it about?

In recent years, radical climate protests, like road blockades, traffic disruptions, or smearings on famous works of art, have sparked strong negative reactions from the public. But when do people support such actions despite this strong public rejection? Group-based control theory suggests that people may try to regain a sense of control by aligning with the norms of their groups (which may differ from the negative opinion of the public); thus, achieving and restoring a sense of personal control by demonstrating and experiencing group membership via conformity, especially when their sense of personal control is threatened. We explored whether young people are more likely to support radical climate protests if they believe that most of other young people do, especially when feeling a lack of personal control. In two experiments with 1,033 (young) participants in Germany, we tested whether reminding people of lack of control and exposing them to the idea that their generation supports radical climate protests would increase their personal support of radical climate protest. We found that when young people believed their group (i.e., young people) supported radical protests, they were more likely to support these actions themselves. However, feeling a lack of personal control did not make this effect stronger. In a follow-up analysis, we found that for those participants deeply committed to climate protection, the combination of low personal control and group norms supporting radical protests did lead to more support for radical actions; however, not for those less committed to climate protection. In times when radical climate protests face heavy public criticism and rejection, this suggests that only people who are highly dedicated to climate activism may turn to extreme measures when they feel helpless and perceive these measures as normative for their group. Less dedicated people may be deterred from radical protest by public rejection.

Featured Image

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Why is it important?

As the threat of climate change increases, and climate protection is urgent, protests for climate protection may become increasingly radical. Social psychological experimental research can contribute to a better understanding of these radicalization processes.

Perspectives