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- Bäck, Emma A., et al.
(författare)
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The Quest for Significance : Attitude Adaption to a Radical Group Following Social Exclusion
- 2018
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Ingår i: International Journal of Developmental Sciences. - : IOS Press. - 2192-001X .- 2191-7485. ; 12:1-2, s. 25-36
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It is a human fundamental to desire to be valued, loved and respected - to be significant. Social exclusion induce significance loss which elicits a 'quest for significance' - the search for opportunities to re-gain significance. The present article establishes this relation in a laboratory experiment (N = 71, mean age = 28, SD = 10.42, 65% women, 35% men), showing that socially excluded individuals who are subsequently included by a radical group, adapt their attitudes in line with this group. We use a modified version of the well-known paradigm 'Cyberball' to elicit the quest for significance. The results show that when experiencing social exclusion, highly rejection sensitive individuals tend to adapt to the radical group's opinions. The results are important, highlighting a mechanism in the radicalization process and the importance of taking social factors into account in this process.
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| 4. |
- Bäck, Emma, et al.
(författare)
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Conforming to Collective Action: The Impact of Rejection, Personality and Norms on Participation in Protest Activity
- 2018
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Ingår i: Social Psychological Bulletin. - : Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID). - 1896-1800 .- 2569-653X. ; 13:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Social norms guide humans’ everyday behavior, and previous research has shown that social norms consistently predict some forms of political participation. Failure to conform to norms may lead to deviation and possible rejection, which humans innately seek to avoid since it threatens their need for belongingness. Following an episode of rejection, individuals are therefore likely to become increasingly willing to conform to norms in order to re-establish a position in their social group. In an experiment, we show that 1) individuals conform to a perceived political engagement norm, and that 2) when rejection associations are made salient, they become increasingly willing to conform to a political engagement norm. We also show 3) that this effect is moderated by individual-level need for belongingness, such that rejection primed participants with a high need to belong, showed the highest levels of conformity to the perceived political engagement norm. The results imply that social pressure is a strong motivating factor in political engagement, which is an important result suggesting that basic social affiliation needs may in fact have an impact on politics and political outcomes.
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| 5. |
- Bäck, Emma, et al.
(författare)
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Group belongingness and collective action: Effects of need to belong and rejection sensitivity on willingness to participate in protest activities
- 2015
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. - : Wiley. - 1467-9450 .- 0036-5564. ; 56:5, s. 537-544
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Engaging in political protests are becoming increasingly common, and considering the potential, individual, costs and the low probability of affecting the political outcome, it is necessary to understand the motivations behind such actions. The desire to be part of a social group is deeply rooted in human nature, and previous research proposes that the groups one belongs to may influence the decision to engage in protests. We build on this research and suggest that social exclusion, individual fear of exclusion and need to belong interact in explaining who is likely to become engaged. In two studies, one natural experiment and one lab-experiment, we show that social exclusion increase willingness to participate in protests for individuals high in both rejection sensitivity and need to belong. We conclude that contextual factors, such as exclusion or marginalization should be considered in relation to individual level personality factors when explaining who is likely to become engaged in political protests. These results are important since they suggest that some people engage in politics simply due to social reasons and are less ideologically motivated.
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| 6. |
- Bäck, Emma, et al.
(författare)
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Radicalization and the quest for significance. An experimental study using the ostracism online paradigm.
- 2017
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Ingår i: The XVIII Nordic Political Science Association (NoPSA) Congress. Odense, Danmark: 8-11 August.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The present research aims to determine how the so called quest for significance plays into the radicalization process. Humans innately seek significance, for instance self-worth, value and respect. Loss of significance elicits a search for ways to re-establish self-worth, value and respect. One way to achieve this is by adherence to a radical ideology. We here analyse social exclusion as a type of significance loss, and establish effects on adaption to a radical group. Social exclusion has been shown to affect individuals in a similar manner as a more general ‘significance loss’ – social exclusion threatens basic human needs for affiliation, belongingness and the desire to ‘be somebody’. Following social exclusion, individuals are more prone to adapt to others who provide an opportunity for inclusion. We use a validated online experimental manipulation of social exclusion that takes the form of a social media platform, similar to Facebook. Two studies show that excluded individuals, especially those highly sensitive to rejection, were more likely to identify as a right-wing/left-wing activist after having been included into a radical right-wing/left-wing group. They were also more likely to want to join the radical group that included them following exclusion. Hence, our results show that the mechanism of significance loss is independent of ideological content, and works the same for individuals to the left and right of the political spectrum, which in line with the significance quest model of radicalization.
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| 7. |
- Bäck, Hanna, et al.
(författare)
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Threat, voting and candidate support. The impact of mortality salience
- 2023
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Political Science. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2673-3145. ; 5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction : How does threat motivate political choices? An extensive literature has noted the importance of threat in influencing political behavior. A growing literature in political psychology has used the concept of “mortality salience” to examine the role of existential threat in political decisions. Scholars have argued that inducing mortality salience by asking individuals to think about their own death should result in either reinforcement of their existing political worldview, a shift to a more politically conservative view, or support for a “status quo” option more generally. Methods : We performed two survey experiments (N = 484 and 1514) manipulating mortality salience and candidate features (Exp. 2). Experiment 1 was performed one week before the 2016 US presidential election and utilized the varying features of the candidates. Experiment 2 manipulated features such as experience level (representing the status quo or change) and partisanship. Results : We find that mortality salience led to an increased likelihood of voting for Hillary Clinton, particularly for moderate and independent respondents. We also find that independent participants preferred the status quo candidate under mortality salience. Discussion : We interpret the findings in both studies as supporting a connection between existential threat and preference for the status quo in psychological terms, at least for less partisan voters, rather than a conservative shift in ideological terms or a tendency to reinforce existing views.
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| 8. |
- Knapton, Holly, et al.
(författare)
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Belonging for violence: Personality, football fandom, and spectator aggression
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nordic Psychology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1901-2276 .- 1904-0016. ; 70:4, s. 278-289
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2018 The Editors of Nordic Psychology Spectator violence is an issue that affects many football matches in Sweden and other countries. Different models have tried to explain why individuals participate in sports fandom and associated behaviors. However, often these models ignore social and individual factors that may impact if and why individuals participate in spectator violence. Outgroup violence can be motivated by pro-social concerns for ingroup acceptance. We argue that outgroup violence among football supporters may be used as a marker of ingroup loyalty and attachment. A survey of 350 male Swedish football supporters was conducted to assess their levels of need to belong, rejection sensitivity, and willingness to engage in violence. A hierarchal regression analysis showed a significant interaction, such that individuals with a high need to belong and who are sensitive to rejection are more willing to engage in violence against an opposing team. The results provide important insights into the social dynamics of intergroup violence and spectator violence. We extend upon existing theory by adding this social personality perspective to show the importance of individual differences in belongingness needs as a driver for participation in spectator violence.
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| 9. |
- Knapton, Holly
(författare)
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From Exclusion to Extremism : The Role of Significance Loss and Identity in the Radicalization Process
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The present thesis aims to examine the causal role of social exclusion within theradicalization process and further to explore moderating and mediating factors. In recent years there has been a move away from trying to understand who is at risk of becoming an extremist, to exploring what makes someone at risk. Feelings of exclusion, discrimination and marginalization have all been linked to participation in extremist activities. Yet to date there continues to be very little empirical data exploring the pathway of exclusion to extremism. This thesis plans to establish a causal link between exclusion and radicalization and explore the moderating and mediating factors that can impact this mechanism.Paper I found that social exclusion triggers a desire for recognition and thisfunctions as a pathway to radicalization. Four experiments were conducted andfound that exclusion was a driver of radical ideology in individuals sensitive torejection. Further, the findings of these studies revealed that this effect wasconsistent across different social and political issues.Paper II revealed that the pathway of social exclusion on radical activism arisesvia shifts in ingroup identity. Specifically, the source of exclusion impacted ingroup identity shifts and in turn activism intentions. An online experiment revealed that exclusion by an outgroup (not ingroup) led to increased participation and this effect was fully mediated by ingroup identity. This finding was replicated using an online survey that operationalized exclusion via a measure of perceived discrimination. This demonstrated perceived discrimination by an outgroup, led to increased ingroup identity and in turn increased engagement. As such this study highlighted the impact of group-based exclusion and how this impacts identity levels and activism engagement.Paper III investigated the link between identity and exclusion one step further byadding need-threat to the mediation pathway. A quasi-experimental study revealed that exclusion led to threatened fundamental needs. This in turn drove individuals to identify with a radical group and be more willing to endorse and participate in extremist actions.The findings of the thesis highlight the vulnerability of individuals experiencingsocial exclusion and discrimination in relation to radicalization risk. Theexplanatory pathways described in the thesis help explain this mechanism and thus provide empirical data that can help shape informed counter-extremism strategies.
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| 10. |
- Knapton, Holly, et al.
(författare)
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Outgroup exclusion, identity, and collective action in the Brexit context
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Applied Social Psychology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0021-9029 .- 1559-1816. ; 52:9, s. 912-927
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper explored how the source of exclusion (ingroup/outgroup) influences ingroup identification and political engagement. It is well documented that social exclusion has a negative impact on individuals' well-being, but less is known how it affects identification with the ingroup, and subsequent behavior. In two studies, one survey (N = 193) and one experiment (N = 384), we explore how exclusion in the context of Brexit impacts identification with the EU and Remain cause and in turn engagement with a pro-EU group. Participants sympathetic to the Remain-side were recruited and findings suggest that exclusion from the outgroup (Leave-sympathizers) increases ingroup identity measures and engagement with a Pro-EU group. Mediation analysis revealed that increased ingroup identity mediated engagement with the ingroup.
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