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Description
In the present project we propose a novel, motivational model of political engagement that aims to explain such diversity in political behavior. We draw on basic theories of motivation showing that people commit to goals that they consider important and desirable and which they perceive as attainable through their own actions. To achieve these goals, people can be expected to engage in behaviors that they believe to be appropriate means. Assuming that political behavior follows the same principles, we suggest that people donate money, attend protests, vote, or join extremist groups because by doing so they hope to achieve some valuable political goals. As such, engagement in political behavior should depend on 1) the importance attached to those goals, 2) the general expectancy of attaining them, and 3) the perceived instrumentality of the particular political behavior coupled with a belief that one can enact that behavior (i.e., self-efficacy). Three interrelated work packages consisting of qualitative, cross-sectional, longitudinal, experimental, and field studies are proposed to test this model in the context of diverse political causes, including causes that are highly relevant in the contemporary world (e.g., gender equality, climate change). Taken together, the three work packages will establish the empirical foundation for a comprehensive motivational model of political behavior that can explain diverse types of political action of differing extremity, and help understand past and present political movements.
Summary of project results
Understanding the conditions under which people engage in political action constitutes one of the core questions in the social and political sciences. However, while many societal problems require collective action, political disengagement seems to be the dominant social norm. At the same time, violent extremism is on the rise worldwide with a few individuals willing to sacrifice everything for a political cause. In the present project we proposed a novel model of political engagement that aims to explain such diversity of political behavior. We draw on basic theories of motivation showing that people commit to goals that they consider important and desirable and
which they perceive as attainable through their own actions. To achieve these goals, they then engage in behaviors that they believe to be appropriate means. Assuming that political behavior follows the same principles, we suggest that people donate money, attend protests, vote, or join extremist groups because by doing so they hope to achieve some valuable political goals. As such, engagement in political behavior should depend on 1) the importance attached to those goals, 2) the general expectancy of attaining them, and 3) the perceived instrumentality of the particular political behavior coupled with a belief that one can enact that behavior (i.e., self-efficacy).
Three interrelated work packages consisting of qualitative, cross-sectional, longitudinal, experimental, and field studies were proposed to test this model in the context of diverse political causes, including causes that are highly relevant in the contemporary world (e.g., gender equality, climate change).
- The main achievement of the project is the new knowledge about political engagement created through
numerous studies and lines of research. The findings, the most important of which are presented in detail in the
next section, cover a wide range of phenomena and illustrate the role of goal structures, expectancy
considerations, perceptions of specific political actions, social norms and social polarization, ideology, and
many other factors. These phenomena were investigated using a variety of methodologies, including multicountry
surveys, experiments, qualitative research, analysis of archival data, agent-based modeling (ABM), in
general population and in activist samples. - These findings have been presented to both academic and non-academic audiences on multiple occasions.
They are described in publications that are either already published, accepted for publications, currently under
review or are in the process of being submitted to journals and available as preprints. In addition to academic
publications, these results were also presented at major international conferences (e.g., International Society of
Political Psychology, 2022, 2023; SPSP, 2023, 2024; EASP General Meeting, 2023), at smaller scientific
meetings and national conferences (e.g., PSPS 2023) and during invited talks (e.g., UCS, UCSD, Ohio State
University, UMD). - Another major achievement is the establishment of a well-coordinated and diverse team comprising
researchers at various career stages and representing different backgrounds. The core team consisted of seven
researchers, with numerous other collaborators contributing to different aspects of the project. This extended
team brought together diverse methodological backgrounds, expertise areas, and other important qualities,
creating an intellectually stimulating and friendly environment with great potential for future projects. A
significant outcome was the development of young researchers, facilitated through informal mentoring and their
formal participation in summer schools and professional workshops. - Throughout the project we built stronger collaborations between Polish and Norwegian partners and their
institutions. We also strengthened previous important collaborations. One of these was with Prof. Arie
Kruglanski from UMD, whose theoretical framework of goal systems theory inspired many ideas explored in
the project. Another key collaboration was with Prof. Gary LaFree, whose expertise in violent extremism
significantly contributed to the project and continues to inform our ongoing research on ideological extremism
in the US. Additionally, we established new collaborations, such as with researchers at UCSD, which resulted
in compelling new analyses that enriched the project. - An important goal of the project was to ensure that the knowledge about the phenomena studied by our team is
useful to practitioners. We achieved that by involving social partners at different stages of our project to ensure
our research was as relevant and applicable as possible. Throughout the project, we made an effort to present
our findings to non-academic audiences, with a particular focus on activist organizations. We participated in
seminars and discussion panels, and gave public talks and interviews (e.g., Polityka, ngo.pl, Radio Kraków,
Gazeta Wyborcza) to share our results and engage with the community. At a special event at the end of the
project we actively sought feedback on the practical application of our findings, discussing how the knowledge
we gathered could be used to inform and improve social practices. This iterative process of involving the social
environment not only enriched our research but also ensured that the knowledge we produced was grounded in
real-world contexts and had practical relevance. - Finally, methodological innovations, including new tools and designs, were significant achievements of the
project. One notable innovation was an application designed to visualize and measure relationships between
goals, a tool that had been absent in the literature but whose necessity had already been recognized. By
employing novel methods to measure the impact of success expectancy and perceptions of social polarization,
we gained valuable insights into phenomena previously studied with more limited methods. Additionally, we
developed a game that provides a highly immersive method for exploring and measuring political engagement
in a simulated environment. These diverse and creative approaches have considerable potential for future
studies on this topic, allowing us to create a more nuanced picture of the factors influencing political
engagement and social dynamics.
Our research on the relationships between multiple goals can influence how researchers study motivations leading to political engagement vs. disengagement, which has largely neglected alternative non-political goals until now. Our approach, which accounts for the hierarchy between multiple goals and the specific (conflicting vs. facilitating) relationships between them, has proven very productive. Moreover, our methodological tools can enhance research on multiple goals beyond the political domain. Traditionally, due to lack of efficient tools this research has focused on single goals or pairs of goals, but our approach can be applied to non-political goals as well,
offering a way to capture these relationships and potentially spur future developments in this area.
Our studies on collective action perceptions shift the focus from averaging across multiple actions and forming a composite score to understanding preferences for specific types of actions. By examining psychological dimensions underlying these preferences, such as difficulty, self-efficacy, and instrumentality, we uncovered important processes that can be extended to the study of new collective actions as they emerge. This methodological innovation, involving multilevel analysis and a within-person design, can inspire future research on this topic.
Generally, using a within-person design was a fruitful approach in other lines of research. It allowed us to discover interesting patterns in the relationship between expectancy and willingness to get involved in a cause. This design revealed significant variability in the effects of expectancy between individuals, which can greatly improve our understanding of how people react to probabilities of success in the political domain. While this topic has been extensively studied in other contexts, it has not received attention in this domain. Likewise, although the valueexpectancy framework had not been applied to voting intentions, our results suggest that this framework offers
multiple possibilities for investigating how people balance value and expectancy considerations when making voting decisions. Extending this research beyond Poland to other political contexts and electoral systems in the future could enhance our understanding of voting decisions.
Our studies on norms are theoretically innovative. By distinguishing different types of social norms based on a theoretical motivational model, we offer a systematic analysis of how consistent and inconsistent combinations of norms impact political engagement, evaluations of political causes, and perceptions of activists. This framework, while applied to political engagement in our project, can inspire discussions on the role of different types of norms in other areas as well. Regarding social norms, we also addressed important gaps in the literature on polarization and (mis)perceptions of polarization through a series of studies using new methodologies for measuring these phenomena. Our findings are novel in both content and methodology, potentially inspiring future research beyond the three countries included in our studies so far.
Our project has the potential to significantly impact the social and economic environment in several ways. First, through extensive collaboration with activist organizations and NGOs, we have developed methods to transfer our findings to these groups and facilitate the use of the results in their various activities. We have identified opportunities to expand these collaborations by participating in designing the research conducted by these organizations and involving their members in our ongoing studies. Additionally, some of our materials (e.g., an activist game) were created and refined with input from activists, ensuring they meet both academic and practical standards. This brings us closer to tailoring these materials and methods for organizations to build support for their goals, encourage participation, and enhance engagement. It would be relatively easy to take another step and create designs based on existing materials that directly apply these methods to specific organizational contexts. Therefore, our studies have important practical implications, offering social actors new insights into building support for their goals and actions. This is particularly relevant for social causes with broad social support but limited action, such as combating climate change and achieving gender equality.
Summary of bilateral results
The bilateral cooperation was satisfactory. It is visible both on the level of mutual collaboration in research tasks as well as in the presentation and publications. Project visibly benefited from bilateral collaboration between partners.