Collective Psychological Empowerment as a Model of Social Change: Researching Crowds and Power

By J. Drury, Stephen D. Reicher. 2009

405 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The issue of psychological empowerment in crowd events has important implications for both theory and practice. Theoretically, the issue throws light on both intergroup conflict and the nature and functions of social identity. Practically, empowerment in collective events can feed into societal change. The study of empowerment therefore tells us something about how the forces pressing for such change might succeed or fail. The present article first outlines some limitations in the conceptualization of both identity and empowerment in previous research on crowd events, before delineating the elaborated social identity model of crowds and power. We then describe recent empirical contributions to the field. These divide into two areas of research: (1) empowerment variables and (2) the dynamics of such empowerment. We finally suggest how psychological empowerment and social change are connected through crowd action. We conclude with some recommendations for practice following from the research described.

Subfields: Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/fb99f54a87efc08ce9544e3f0a6110afc7e8d703

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In Sociology and Political Science

Citations in the corpus

The role of social identity processes in mass emergency behaviour: An integrative review (2018, background): “…sources for the expansion of the social identity model were Reicher’s account of psychological transformation in crowds (Neville & Reicher, 2011; Reicher, 2011) as well as our earlier work on empowerment in collective action (Drury & Reicher, 1999, 2005, 2009; Reicher, 1996; Stott & Drury, 1999).”
Hope and Anger as Mediators Between Collective Action Frames and Participation in Collective Mobilization: The Case of 15-M (2017, background): “…to integrate the constructs offered by different theoretical approaches and to include multiple predictors of engagement in collective action (e.g. Drury & Reicher, 2009; Gamson, 1992; Stürmer & Simon, 2004; Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987; van Zomeren, Postmes, & Spears, 2008).”
The experience of collective participation: shared identity, relatedness and emotionality (2011, background): “Our findings also complement research conducted by Drury & Reicher (2005, 2009) which demonstrates that intragroup unity can facilitate CSO leading to empowerment and intense positive affect.”
Empowerment—Fad or Fab? A Multilevel Review of the Past Two Decades of Research (2012, background): “Social forces, from the Tea Party and the Occupy Movement in the United States to similar protests and unrest throughout Europe and elsewhere, drive right to the heart of whether employees and citizens should be empowered (Drury & Reicher, 2010).”
Four Core Social‐Psychological Motivations to Undertake Collective Action (2013, background): “I therefore join a chorus of voices in the literature that call for a focus on dynamics (Drury & Reicher, 2005, 2009; Klandermans, 1997; van Zomeren & Iyer, 2009).”
Introduction to the Social and Psychological Dynamics of Collective Action (2009, background): “…in movements to protest perceived social injustice, such as increases in university tuition fees (St¨urmer & Simon, 2009), increases in local taxes (Drury & Reicher, 2009), the reduction of retired workers’ rights (van Stekelenburg, Klandermans, & van Dijk, 2009), and poverty in developing…”
Identity Politics and Politicized Identities: Identity Processes and the Dynamics of Protest (2014, background): “Drawing on field studies of crowd events, Drury and Reicher (2009) note how police action creates a strong unified crowd out of an initially fragmented collectivity.”
Collective Action—and Then What? (2009, background): “Drury and colleagues, who have initiated the social-psychological study of the outcomes of collective action (Drury & Reicher, 2009; see also, Drury & Reicher, 2000, 2005; Drury, Cocking, Beale, Hanson, & Rapley, 2005), have specifically documented increases in identification, collective…”
Building a Tower of Babel? Integrating Core Motivations and Features of Social Structure into the Political Psychology of Political Action (2016, background): “…Goldenberg, Halperin, Van Zomeren, & Gross, in press; Mackie, Smith, & Ray, 2008), the (personal or group-based) goals they priorize (Bandura, 1997; Drury & Reicher, 2009), and thus also their (personal or group-based) motivation to engage in individual or collective action (e.g, Ellemers, 1993;…”
Can moral convictions motivate the advantaged to challenge social inequality? (2011, background): “…reasons, the key variable in the psychology of collective action among the disadvantaged is the relevant group that individuals identify with (Ellemers, 1993; Tajfel, 1978; Tajfel & Turner, 1979; see also Drury & Reicher, 2005, 2009; Klandermans, 1997; Mummendey, Kessler, Klink, & Mielke, 1999).”
A dynamic model of engagement in normative and non-normative collective action: Psychological antecedents, consequences, and barriers (2015, background): “Second, we observe that the focus on developing predictive models has resulted in a lack of attention to dynamic processes in collective action (but for exceptions see Drury & Reicher, 2009; van Zomeren, Leach, & Spears, 2012).”
The emotional link: Leadership and the role of implicit and explicit emotional contagion processes across multiple organizational levels (2015, background): “Eberly and Fong (2013) illustrate that followers’ attributions of leader sincerity and effectiveness were also influenced by the emotions they share with their leader.”
The biographical consequences of protest and activism: a systematic review and a new typology (2017, background): “…which has been defined as ‘that positive social-psychological transformation, related to a sense of being able to (re)shape the social world, that takes place for members of subordinate groups who overturn (or at least challenge) existing relations of dominance’ (Drury & Reicher, 2009, p. 708).”
Missing in (Collective) Action (2017, background): “They emphasize three antecedents of protest: (a) anger at perceived injustice, (b) social identification, and (c) beliefs about group efficacy (Drury & Reicher, 2009; Kawakami & Dion, 1995; Tausch et al., 2011; van Zomeren, Leach, & Spears, 2012).”