| 1. |
- Bäck, Emma, et al.
(author)
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A social safety net? : Rejection sensitivity and political opinion sharing among young people in social media
- 2019
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In: New Media and Society. - : Sage Publications. - 1461-4448 .- 1461-7315. ; 21:2, s. 298-316
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- One reason why people avoid using social media to express their opinions is to avert social sanctions as proposed by the spiral of silence theory. We here elaborate on individual-level sensitivity to social rejection in relation to voicing political opinions on social media sites. Given the uncertainty about sharing political views in social media, and the fact that social acceptance, or rejection, can be easily communicated through, for instance, likes, or a lack of likes, we argue that rejection sensitive individuals are less likely to share political information in social media. Combining an analysis of unique survey data on psychological characteristics and online political activity with focus group interviews with Swedish youth supports our argument, showing that rejection sensitive individuals are less inclined to engage politically in social media. The results extend on previous research by establishing the role of rejection sensitivity in political engagement in social media.
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| 2. |
- Bäck, Emma A., et al.
(author)
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The Quest for Significance : Attitude Adaption to a Radical Group Following Social Exclusion
- 2018
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In: International Journal of Developmental Sciences. - : IOS Press. - 2192-001X .- 2191-7485. ; 12:1-2, s. 25-36
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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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| 3. |
- Bäck, Emma, et al.
(author)
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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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In: Social Psychological Bulletin. - : Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID). - 1896-1800 .- 2569-653X. ; 13:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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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| 4. |
- Bäck, Emma, et al.
(author)
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From I to We : Group Formation and Linguistic Adaption in an Online Xenophobic Forum
- 2018
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In: The Journal of Social and Political Psychology. - : Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID). - 2195-3325. ; 6:1, s. 76-91
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Much of identity formation processes nowadays takes place online, indicating that intergroup differentiation may be found in online communities. This paper focuses on identity formation processes in an open online xenophobic, anti-immigrant, discussion forum. Open discussion forums provide an excellent opportunity to investigate open interactions that may reveal how identity is formed and how individual users are influenced by other users. Using computational text analysis and Linguistic Inquiry Word Count (LIWC), our results show that new users change from an individual identification to a group identification over time as indicated by a decrease in the use of “I” and increase in the use of “we”. The analyses also show increased use of “they” indicating intergroup differentiation. Moreover, the linguistic style of new users became more similar to that of the overall forum over time. Further, the emotional content decreased over time. The results indicate that new users on a forum create a collective identity with the other users and adapt to them linguistically.
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| 5. |
- Bäck, Emma, et al.
(author)
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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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In: Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. - : Wiley. - 1467-9450 .- 0036-5564. ; 56:5, s. 537-544
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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.
(author)
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Why Engage in Collective Action? The Conditional Effect of Social Support and Efficacy on Protest Participation
- 2018
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In: Basic and Applied Social Psychology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0197-3533 .- 1532-4834. ; 40:1, s. 49-59
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Why do people engage in collective actions, such as demonstrations? We suggest that intentions to engage in protest activities come from the perception that the action is an efficient way to affect policy but is also dependent upon the level of others' engagement. Specifically, lower support should spur intentions to engage if the individual believes that the collective act is an efficient means to bring about social change. In two experiments, manipulating social support, efficacy increased intentions to participate in collective actions but mainly for participants with low social support (Experiments 1 and 2). In Experiment 3, manipulating efficacy, high social support was related to decreased intentions to engage. However, in this study, social support did not interact with efficacy.
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| 7. |
- Bäck, Hanna, et al.
(author)
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Balanspartier i regeringsbildningar
- 2012
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In: Tungan på vågen. Vågmästare och balanspartier. - Göteborg : Makadam. - 9789170611094
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)
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| 8. |
- Bäck, Hanna, et al.
(author)
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Cabinets, Prime Ministers and Corruption. A Comparative Analysis of Parliamentary Governments in Post-war Europe
- 2019
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In: Political Studies. - : SAGE Publications. - 0032-3217 .- 1467-9248. ; 67:1, s. 149-170
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Why are some states more corrupt than others? Drawing on the literature on governance in parliamentary democracies, we suggest that the degree of corruption depends on the ability of key political actors to control ministers who have been delegated power. We argue that the Prime Minister has incentives to limit corruption within the cabinet and has the ability to do so when there are certain “control mechanisms” at hand. One such mechanism is the PM’s ability to fire or demote ministers who are not behaving in accordance with his or her wishes. We hypothesize that governmental corruption will be lower in systems where the constitution grants the PM strong powers. Using a new dataset (Varieties of Democracy), which provides more specific measures on high-level corruption across a longer time period, we analyze corruption in 26 West and East European democracies over the post-war period and find support for our hypothesis.
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| 9. |
- Bäck, Hanna, et al.
(author)
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Regional Government Formation in Varying Multilevel Contexts : A Comparison of Eight European Countries
- 2013
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In: Regional studies. - : ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD. - 0034-3404 .- 1360-0591. ; 47:3, s. 368-387
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Back H., Debus M., Muller J. and Back H. Regional government formation in varying multilevel contexts: a comparison of eight European countries, Regional Studies. Although governance in multilevel settings has become a prominent research field in political science, there are few comparative studies that focus on explaining sub-national coalition outcomes in such settings. This paper sets out to study regional government formation in eight European countries and it builds on a dataset that covers information on the policy preferences of parties drawn from regional election manifestos. The results show that parties at the regional level are likely to form congruent coalitions, that is, copying' the patterns of national government formation, and that they are more likely to do so in specific regional contexts.
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| 10. |
- Erlandsson, Kerstin, et al.
(author)
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Mothers' experiences of the time after the diagnosis of an intrauterine death until the induction of the delivery : a qualitative Internet-based study
- 2011
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In: Journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research. - : Wiley. - 1341-8076 .- 1447-0756 .- 0144-3615 .- 1364-6893. ; 37:11, s. 1677-84
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- AIM: This study aims to describe how mothers spend the period of time between being diagnosed with a dead baby in utero and the induction of the delivery.MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data were collected using a web questionnaire. Five hundred and fifteen women who had experienced a stillbirth after the 22nd week of gestation answered the open question: 'What did you do between the diagnosis of the child's death and the beginning of the delivery?' A qualitative content analysis method was used.RESULTS: The results show that some mothers received help to adapt to the situation, while for others, waiting for the induction meant further stress and additional psychological trauma in an already strained situation.CONCLUSION: There is no reason to wait with the induction unless the parents themselves express a wish to the contrary. Health care professionals, together with the parents, should try to determine the best time for the induction of the birth after the baby's death in utero. That time may vary, depending on the parents' preferences.
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