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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.