Can people be motivated to experience an emotion solely due to the belief that this emotion reinforces their ideology? This study investigated whether people would be motivated to experience...Show moreCan people be motivated to experience an emotion solely due to the belief that this emotion reinforces their ideology? This study investigated whether people would be motivated to experience ideology-congruent and -incongruent emotions, if they believed these would reinforce their (left or right) ideology. A repeated-measures design showed that across ideologies, people were more motivated to experience fear when they believed it was ideology-reinforcing than when they had no such belief. Contrary to the hypothesis, for hope, the data suggested motivation to be high regardless of people’s beliefs about its usefulness for their ideology. This study also investigated potential differences between leftists and rightists in their motivation to experience ideology congruent and incongruent emotions. Whilst the data suggested rightists to be generally more motivated to experience both hope and fear, these results had to be disregarded, due to a great gender and age difference between the samples of the leftist and rightist supporters, which influenced the results. The significance and implications of the current findings are discussed.Show less
As we move towards a technologically sophisticated future, society finds itself confronted with various types of complex novelties. People may however withdraw from information on such novelties...Show moreAs we move towards a technologically sophisticated future, society finds itself confronted with various types of complex novelties. People may however withdraw from information on such novelties due to feelings of confusion or unfamiliarity. We argue that this negative psychological impact of complexity may be shaped by means of message framing. Respective frames may either create a general discovery motive or focuses on specific information that is missing to close any gaps in knowledge. The results of our online experiment with a mixed design (N = 101) indicated that message framing however did not affect participants’ interest, motivation to know more, or confusion towards complex innovations. Contrary to our predictions, we did find that frames based on a general discovery motive resulted in higher levels of perceived complexity. Possible explanations for these results, shortcomings of the applied methodology, and theoretical implications for future research are discussed.Show less
Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)
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Minority activists benefit from the support of those advantaged in a system of inequality to alter the status quo. However, previous research suggests that members of advantaged groups often engage...Show moreMinority activists benefit from the support of those advantaged in a system of inequality to alter the status quo. However, previous research suggests that members of advantaged groups often engage in solidarity activism to bolster the moral image of their ingroup. We theorised that taking the moral high ground can be its own antecedent of collective action behaviour. In two studies, we investigated the role of group-based moral superiority in motivating collective action behaviour of solidarity activists in the Black Lives Matter movement. In Study 1 (n = 218) we examined the relationship between group-based moral superiority and both collective action intentions and activism persistence above and beyond traditional measures of collective action (i.e., SIMCA, Van Zomeren et al., 2008, 2012). In Study 2 (n = 209) we then manipulated group-based moral superiority experimentally to test whether higher levels of group-based moral superiority lead to increased collective action behaviour. Across both studies, we found support that group-based moral superiority plays an indirect role in increasing collective action intentions through stronger politicised group identification. The same indirect relationship was found for activism persistence in Study 1 but was not replicated in Study 2. We discuss implications of our findings for theory, future research directions, and practical aspects of collective action.Show less
