Me versus Us? Understanding the Role of Personal and Social Motives on Activist Intentions

Current social psychological models of activism only consider social identity-based and not personal identity-based motives. Yet, people could be motivated to engage in activism because they want to fulfill needs like being authentic to and consistent with their core personal beliefs more than social identity concerns, such as belonging or group standing. In the current studies, I examine the comparative effects of personal versus social motives on activist intentions using correlational (Study 1; N = 427) and experimental (Study 2; N = 1882) designs. Using reliable measures that assessed the extent to which participants perceive their policy positions as reflective of different identity concerns, the results of Study 1 found that both personal motives and social motives were associated with stronger activist intentions. These associations were consistent across issues of abortion and gun rights. Study 2, however, revealed that when manipulating the salience of different identity motives, it was only when personal motives were made salient, compared to no salience, that activist intentions increased. Taken together, the studies reveal that personal motives are indeed important underpinnings of activist intentions. This suggests that group identity concerns do not always dominate people’s attitudes and political behaviors, but rather that people also have the capacity to act in accordance with their sense of personal and moral authenticity.