When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy

Gustave Adolphe Messanga; Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih

doi:doi:10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14

| Peer-Reviewed

When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy

Gustave Adolphe Messanga, Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih

Published in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 11, Issue 3)

Received: 27 May 2022 Accepted: 13 June 2022 Published: 20 June 2022

Views: Downloads:

Download PDF

Share This Article

Twitter
Linked In
Facebook

Abstract

The literature reports that individuals living in repressive environments tend to avoid participating in collective actions, in particular because of the risks of confrontation with intimidation, arbitrary arrests, violence, and even death. However, some researches has begun to document the psychosocial mechanisms that could motivate them to overcome these risks: feeling of outrage generated by state repression, identification with civil society and moral obligation to resist, for example. The present study, conducted in the context of authoritarian democracy, is situated in this line of research by proposing anomic threat, considered as the perceived disintegration and deregulation of society, as an incentive variable of the propensity to protest against the system in a repressive environment. It suggests that when individuals perceive the degradation of society from the points of view of its leadership and values, they may realize that inaction is likely to accentuate it and may be inclined to participate in collective actions with a view to restore the fractured social structure and leadership, despite the risks of repression from the governing system. In this logic, the hypothesis tested predicts that perceived anomic threat reinforces the relationship between perceived political intolerance and participation in anti-system collective actions in the context of authoritarian democracy. 275 Cameroonians, aged between 17 and 47 years (M. = 24.24; S.D. = 5.71) agreed to participate in the research. Measures focused on perceived political intolerance, perceived anomic threat, perceived efficacy of collective actions, participation in anti-system collective actions, distrust and grievances towards political authority. The results show that when participants are experimentally confronted with the degrading character of society, their perception of anomic threat reinforces the relationship between political intolerance and participation in anti-system collective actions, due to the activation of negative emotions and the perceived efficacy of the said actions. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.

Published in	Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 11, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14
Page(s)	92-104
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Political Intolerance, Anomic Threat, Anti-system Collective Actions, Authoritarian Democracy, Cameroon

References

[1]	Akfirat, S., Uysal, M. S., Bayrak, F., Ergiyen, T., Üzümçeker, E., Yurtbakan, T., & Özkan, Ö. S. (2021). Social identification and collective action participation in the internet age: A meta-analysis. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 15 (4), Article 10. http://doi.org/10.5817/CP202-4-10.
[2]	Amnesty International LTD. (2019). Cameroun. Il faut libérer les manifestants pacifiques pris pour cibles dans le cadre d’une violente répression [Cameroon. Free peaceful protesters targeted in violent crackdown]. https://googleweblight.com/i?u = https://www.amnesty.org/fr/latest/news/2019/01/cameroon-peaceful-protesters-targeted-in-violentcrackdown-must-berelased/&hl = fr-CM
[3]	Anisin, A. (2016). Violence begets violence: Why states should not lethally repress popular protest. The International Journal of Human Rights, 20 (7), 893-913. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2016.1192536
[4]	Ayanian, A. H., & Tausch, N. (2016). How risk perception shapes collective action intention in repressive contexts: A study of Egyptian activists during the 2013 post-coup uprising. British Journal of Social Psychology, 55, 700-721. http://doi.org/10.1111/bjps.12164
[5]	Ayanian, H. A., Tausch, N., Acar, G. Y., Chayinska, M., Cheung, W. Y., & Lukyanova, Y. (2021). Resistance in repressive contexts: A comprehensive test of psychological predictors. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 120 (4), 912-939. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000285
[6]	Aytaç, S. E., Schiumerini, L., & Stokes, S. (2018). Why do people join backlash protests? Lessons from Turkey. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 62 (6), 1205-1228. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002716686828
[7]	Bos, L., Wichgers, L., & van Spanje, J. (2021). Are Populists Politically Intolerant? Citizens’ Populist Attitudes and Tolerance of Various Political Antagonists. Political Studies, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/00323217211049299
[8]	Byrne, B. M. (1989). A primer of LISREL: Basic applications and programming for confirmatory factor analytic models. Springer-Verlag.
[9]	Chan, M. (2014). Social identity gratifications of social network sites and their impact on collective action participation. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 17 (2), 229-235. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajsp.12068
[10]	Chan, M. (2016). Media Use and the Social Identity Model of Collective Action: Examining the Roles of Online Alternative News and Social Media News. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 94 (3), 663-681. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699016638837
[11]	Civelek, M. E. (2018). Essentials of Structural Equation Modeling. Zea E-Books, 64. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook/64
[12]	Crawford, J. T. (2014). Ideological symmetries and asymmetries in political intolerance and prejudice toward political activist groups. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 55, 284-298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2014.08.002
[13]	Crimston, C. R., Selvanathan, H. P., & Jetten, J. (2021). Moral polarization predicts support for authoritarian and progressive strong leaders via the perceived breakdown of society. Political Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12787
[14]	Crimston, C. R., Selvanathan, H. P., Álvarez, B., Jetten, J., Bentley, S. V., Salvador Casara, B. G., Ionescu, O., Krug, H., Steffens, N. K., Tanjitpiyanond, P., & Wibisono, S. (2022). Cracks before the crisis: Polarization prior to COVID-19 predict increased collective angst and economic pessimism. European Journal of Social Psychology, XX, XX. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2845
[15]	Curtice, T., & Berhlendorf, B. (2021). Street-Level Repression: Protest, Policing, and the Generation of Dissent in Uganda. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 65 (1), 166-194. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002720939304
[16]	Droz-Vincent, P. (2004). Quel est l’avenir pour l’autoritarisme dans le monde arabe [What is the future for authoritarianism in the Arab world?]. Revue Française de Science Politique, 54 (6), 945- 979.
[17]	Durkheim, E. (1897). Le suicide [Suicide]. Felix Alcan.
[18]	Earl, J. (2011). Political Repression: Iron Fists, Velvet Gloves, and Diffuse Control. The Annual Review of Sociology, 37, 261-284.
[19]	Economist Intelligence Unit. (2020). Classements des pays par indice de démocratie dans 165 pays [Country rankings by democracy index in 165 countries]. Https://googleweblight.com/i?u = https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/indice_de_%25C3%25A9mocratie&hl = fr-CM
[20]	Elgar, F. J., Davis, C. G., Wohl, M. J., Trites, S. J., Zelenski, J. M., & Martin, M. S. (2011). Social capital, health and life satisfaction in 50 countries. Health & Place, 17 (5), 1044-1053.
[21]	Etekou, B. Y. (2013). L’alternance démocratique dans les États d’Afrique francophone [Democratic alternation in French-speaking African states]. (Thèse de doctorat en Sciences Juridique Administrative et Politique, Université de Cocodi, Abidjan).
[22]	Gibson, J. L. (2008). Intolerance and Political Repression in the United States: A Half Century after McCarthyism. American Journal of Political Science, 52 (1), 96-108. Doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00301.x.
[23]	Gibson, J. L., Claassen, C., & Barcelò, J. (2020). Deplorables: Emotions, Political Sophistication, and Political Intolerance. American Politics Research, 48 (2), 1-21. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X18820864
[24]	Gibson, J. L., & Pederson, J. N. (2021). Rescuing the GSS’s Measures of Political Intolerance. https://ssrn.com/abstract = 3846544.
[25]	Haman, M. (2019, 22 février). Si ça n’est pas une dictature, ça y ressemble. Nouvelle du quotidien [If it is not a dictatorship, it looks like it. Daily news]. http://www.lequotidien.fr/vox/societe/2019/02/22/3100320170228ARTFIG00274-si-ca-n’est-pas-une-dictature-ca-y-ressemble.hl = fr-CM
[26]	Harell, A., Hinkley, R., & Mansell, J. (2021). Valuing Liberty or equality? Empathetic personality and political intolerance of harmful speech. Frontiers in Political Science, 3, 663858. Doi: 10.3389/fpos.2021.663858.
[27]	Hasan-Aslih, S., Shuman, E., Pliskin, R., Van Zomeren, M., Saguy, T., & Halperin, E. (2020). With or without you: The paradoxical role of identification in predicting joint and ingroup collective action in intergroup conflict. European Journal of Social of Social Psychology, 50, 1334-1343. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2677
[28]	Hermet, G. (2006). Autoritarisme, démocratie et neutralité axiologique chez Juan Linz [Authoritarianism, democracy and axiological neutrality in Juan Linz]. Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée, 13 (1), 45-73.
[29]	International Crisis Group LTD. (2018). Élection présidentielle au Cameroun: Les fractures se multiplient [Presidential election in Cameroon: The fractures are multiplying]. https://www.crisisgroup.org/fr/africa/central-africa/cameroun/b142-election-presidentielle-au-cameroun-les-fractures-semultiplient&hl = fr-CM
[30]	Ionescu, O., Collange, J., & Tavani, J. L. (2022). Perceived Societal Anomie and the Implicit Trajectory of National Decline: Replicating and extending Yamashiro and Roediger (2019) within a French sample. Doctoral thesis part funded by the Observatoire B2V des mémoires. https://www.observatoireb2vdesmémoires.fr
[31]	Ionescu, O., Tavani J. L., & Collange, J. (2021a) Perceived societal anomie, collective memory, and support for collective action: Perceiving that current French society is anomic influences present support for collective action through the reconstructed national past. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 24 (3), 405-420. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajsp.12438
[32]	Ionescu, O., Tavani, J. L., & Collange, J. (2021b). Political extremism and perceived anomie: New evidence of political extremes’ symmetries and asymmetries within French samples. International Review of Social Psychology, 34 (1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.573
[33]	Jetten, J., Mols, F., & Selvanathan, H. P. (2020). How economic inequality fuels the rise and persistence of the Yellow Vest movement. International Review of Social Psychology, 33 (1), 1-12. Doi: https://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.356
[34]	Krouwel, A., Kutiyski, Y., Van Prooijen, J. W., Martinsson, J., & Markstedt, E. (2017). Does extreme political ideology predict conspiracy beliefs, economic evaluation and political trust? Evidence from Sweden. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 5 (2), 435-462. Doi: https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v5j2.745
[35]	Leong, C., Pan, S., Bahri, S., & Fauzi, A. (2019). Social media empowerment in social movements: power activation and power accrual in digital activism. European Journal of Information Systems, 28 (2), 173-204. https://doi.org/10.1080/0960085x.2018.1512944
[36]	Magnani, V., & Vircoulon, T. (2019).Vers un retour de l’autoritarisme en Afrique? [Towards a return to authoritarianism in Africa?] Politique Etrangère, XX, 11-23. http://www.revues.armand-colin.com/cga.
[37]	Mahfud, Y., Badea, C., Guimond, S., Anier, N., & Ernst-Vintila, A. (2016). Distance culturelle, perception du multiculturalisme et préjugés envers les immigrés en France [Cultural distance, perception of multiculturalism and prejudices against immigrants in France]. L’Année Psychologique, 116 (2), 203-225. Doi: 10.4074/S000350331600035X.
[38]	Manga, J. M., & Mbassi, A. R. (2017). De la fin des manifestations à la faim de manifester: revendications publiques, rémanence autoritaire et procès de la démocratie au Cameroun [From the end of demonstrations to the hunger to demonstrate: public demands, authoritarian persistence and the trial of democracy in Cameroon]. Politique Africaine, 146 (2), 73-97. Doi: 10.3917/polaf.146.0073.
[39]	McDonald, R. P., & Marsh, H. W. (1990). Choosing a Multivariate model Noncentrality and goodness of fit. Psychological Bulletin, 107 (2), 247-255.
[40]	Merton, R. (1938). Social structure and anomie. American Sociological Review, 3, 672-682. https://doi.org/10.2307/2084686
[41]	Messanga, G. A., Fotso Magne, P., & Taffo Nemboue, W. (2020). Adhésion aux théories conspirationnistes et soutien aux politiques répressives à l’égard des libertés politiques en contexte de démocratie autoritaire: Le Cas du Cameroun [Adherence to conspiracy theories and support for repressive policies towards political freedoms in the context of authoritarian democracy: The case of Cameroon]. European Scientific Journal, 16 (26), 51-73. http://dx.doi.org/10.19044/esj.2020.v16n26p51
[42]	Meydan, C. H., & Şen, H. (2011). Yapısal Eşitlik Modellemesi AMOS Uygulamaları [Structural Equation Modeling AMOS Applications]. Detay Yayıncılık.
[43]	Meyer, D. S. (2014). The politics of protest: Social movements in America. Oxford University Press.
[44]	Morselli, D., Passini, S., & McGarty, C. (2021). Sos Venezuela: an analysis of the anti-Maduro protest movements using Twitter. Social Movement Studies, 20 (5), 509-530. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2020.1770072
[45]	Natielse, K. J. (2013). Le Burkina Faso depuis 1991: Entre stabilité politique et illusionnisme démocratique [Burkina Faso since 1991: Between political stability and democratic illusionism]. (Thèse pour le Doctorat en Science politique, Université Montesquieu Bordeaux iv).
[46]	O’Donnell, G. (1973). Modernization and Bureaucratic Authoritarianism. Institute of International Studies.
[47]	Odağ, Ö., Uluğ, M., & Solak, N. (2016). “Everyday I’m Çapuling”: Identity and collective action through social network sites in the Gezi Park Protests in Turkey. Journal of Media Psychology, 28 (3), 148-159. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000202
[48]	Rusk, J. D. (2018). Trust and distrust scale development: Operationalization and instrument validation. Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations. https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/dba_etd/42
[49]	Sani, F., Bowe, M., & Herrera, M. (2008). Perceived collective continuity and social well-being: Exploring the connections. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38, 365-374. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.461
[50]	Steenvoorden, E., & Harteveld, E. (2018). The appeal of nostalgia: The influence of societal pessimism on support for populist radical right parties. West European Politics, 4 (1), 28-52. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2017.1334138
[51]	Tausch, N., Saguy, T., & Bryson, J. (2015). The implication of intergroup contact for social change: its impact on individual mobility and collective action among member of a disadvantage group. Journal of Social Issues, 71 (3), 536-553. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12127
[52]	Teymoori, A., Bastian, B., & Jetten, J. (2017). Towards a psychological analysis of anomie. Political Psychology, 38, 1009-1023. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12377.
[53]	Teymoori, A., Jetten, J., Bastian, B., Ariyanto, A., Autin, F., Ayub, & Wohl, M. (2016). Revisiting the measurement of Anomie. PLoS One, 11 (7), e0158370. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158370
[54]	Uluğ, Ö., Chayinska, M., & Tropp, L. R. (2022). Conception, methodological, and contextual challenges in studying collective action: Recommendations for future research. TMP-Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 29 (1), 9-22. Doi: 10.4473/TPM29.1.2.
[55]	Uysal, M. S., & Akfırat, S. (2021). Formation of emergent identity: Applying EMSICA into Gezi Park protests. Group processes & Intergroup Relations, 25 (2), 527-539. http://doi.org/10.1177/1368430220983597
[56]	Vaast, E., Safadi, H., Lapointe, L., & Negoita, B. (2017). Social Media Affordances for Connective Action: An examination of microblogging use during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. MIS Quarterly, 41 (4), 1179-1205. https://doi.org/10.25300/misq/2017/41.4.08
[57]	Van Bavel, J. J., Baicker, K., Boggio, P. S., Capraro, V., Cichocka, A., Cikara, M., Crockett, M. J., Crum, A. J., Douglas, K. M., Druckman, J. N., Drury, J., Dube, O., Ellemers, N., Finkel, E. J., Fowler, J. H., Gelfand, M., Han, S., Haslam, S. A., Jetten, J., … Willer, R. (2020). Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response. Nature Human Behaviour, 4 (5), 460-471. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0884-z
[58]	Van Stekelenburg, J., Klandermans, B. & Van Dijk, W. W. (2009). Context matters: Explaining how and why mobilizing context influences motivational dynamics. Journal of Social Issues, 65, 815-838. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2009.01626.x
[59]	Van Zomeren, M. (2013). Four core social-psychological motivations to undertake collective action. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7, 378-388. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12031
[60]	Van Zomeren, M. (2019). Toward a cultural psychology of collective action: Just how care are the core motivations for collective action? Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, 13 (15), 1-7. Doi: 10.1017/prp.2019.7.
[61]	Van Zomeren, M., Postmes, T., & Spears, R. (2008). Toward an integrative social identity model of collective action: A quantitative research synthesis of three socio-psychological perspectives. Psychological Bulletin, 134 (4), 504-535. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.134.4.504
[62]	Van Zomeren, M., Postmes, T., Spears, R., & Bettache, K. (2011). Can moral convictions motivate the advantaged to challenge social inequality? Extending the social identity model of collective action. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 14 (5), 735-753. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430210395637
[63]	www.rfi.fr. (01/05/2022). Cameroun: OTS, un mouvement de défense sociale sans leader qui parvient à s’imposer [Cameroon: OTS, a leaderless social defense movement that manages to impose itself]. https://www.rfi.fr./fr/fr/afrique/20220501-cameroun-ots-un-mouvement-de-d%C3%A9fense-sociale-sans-leader-qui-parvient-%C3%A0-s-imposer
[64]	Yogeeswaran, K., & Dasgupta, N. (2014). The devil is in the details: Abstract versus concrete construals of multiculturalism differentially impact intergroup relations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106, 772-789. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035830

Cite This Article

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Gustave Adolphe Messanga, Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih. (2022). When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 11(3), 92-104. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Gustave Adolphe Messanga; Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih. When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2022, 11(3), 92-104. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Gustave Adolphe Messanga, Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih. When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy. Psychol Behav Sci. 2022;11(3):92-104. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14,
  author = {Gustave Adolphe Messanga and Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih},
  title = {When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy},
  journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
  volume = {11},
  number = {3},
  pages = {92-104},
  doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20221103.14},
  abstract = {The literature reports that individuals living in repressive environments tend to avoid participating in collective actions, in particular because of the risks of confrontation with intimidation, arbitrary arrests, violence, and even death. However, some researches has begun to document the psychosocial mechanisms that could motivate them to overcome these risks: feeling of outrage generated by state repression, identification with civil society and moral obligation to resist, for example. The present study, conducted in the context of authoritarian democracy, is situated in this line of research by proposing anomic threat, considered as the perceived disintegration and deregulation of society, as an incentive variable of the propensity to protest against the system in a repressive environment. It suggests that when individuals perceive the degradation of society from the points of view of its leadership and values, they may realize that inaction is likely to accentuate it and may be inclined to participate in collective actions with a view to restore the fractured social structure and leadership, despite the risks of repression from the governing system. In this logic, the hypothesis tested predicts that perceived anomic threat reinforces the relationship between perceived political intolerance and participation in anti-system collective actions in the context of authoritarian democracy. 275 Cameroonians, aged between 17 and 47 years (M. = 24.24; S.D. = 5.71) agreed to participate in the research. Measures focused on perceived political intolerance, perceived anomic threat, perceived efficacy of collective actions, participation in anti-system collective actions, distrust and grievances towards political authority. The results show that when participants are experimentally confronted with the degrading character of society, their perception of anomic threat reinforces the relationship between political intolerance and participation in anti-system collective actions, due to the activation of negative emotions and the perceived efficacy of the said actions. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy
AU  - Gustave Adolphe Messanga
AU  - Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih
Y1  - 2022/06/20
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14
T2  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
JF  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
JO  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
SP  - 92
EP  - 104
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-7845
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14
AB  - The literature reports that individuals living in repressive environments tend to avoid participating in collective actions, in particular because of the risks of confrontation with intimidation, arbitrary arrests, violence, and even death. However, some researches has begun to document the psychosocial mechanisms that could motivate them to overcome these risks: feeling of outrage generated by state repression, identification with civil society and moral obligation to resist, for example. The present study, conducted in the context of authoritarian democracy, is situated in this line of research by proposing anomic threat, considered as the perceived disintegration and deregulation of society, as an incentive variable of the propensity to protest against the system in a repressive environment. It suggests that when individuals perceive the degradation of society from the points of view of its leadership and values, they may realize that inaction is likely to accentuate it and may be inclined to participate in collective actions with a view to restore the fractured social structure and leadership, despite the risks of repression from the governing system. In this logic, the hypothesis tested predicts that perceived anomic threat reinforces the relationship between perceived political intolerance and participation in anti-system collective actions in the context of authoritarian democracy. 275 Cameroonians, aged between 17 and 47 years (M. = 24.24; S.D. = 5.71) agreed to participate in the research. Measures focused on perceived political intolerance, perceived anomic threat, perceived efficacy of collective actions, participation in anti-system collective actions, distrust and grievances towards political authority. The results show that when participants are experimentally confronted with the degrading character of society, their perception of anomic threat reinforces the relationship between political intolerance and participation in anti-system collective actions, due to the activation of negative emotions and the perceived efficacy of the said actions. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.
VL  - 11
IS  - 3
ER  -

Copy | Download

Author Information

Gustave Adolphe Messanga

Department of Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon
Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih

Department of Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon

Download PDF

Sections

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Gustave Adolphe Messanga, Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih. (2022). When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 11(3), 92-104. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Gustave Adolphe Messanga; Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih. When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2022, 11(3), 92-104. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Gustave Adolphe Messanga, Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih. When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy. Psychol Behav Sci. 2022;11(3):92-104. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14,
  author = {Gustave Adolphe Messanga and Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih},
  title = {When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy},
  journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
  volume = {11},
  number = {3},
  pages = {92-104},
  doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20221103.14},
  abstract = {The literature reports that individuals living in repressive environments tend to avoid participating in collective actions, in particular because of the risks of confrontation with intimidation, arbitrary arrests, violence, and even death. However, some researches has begun to document the psychosocial mechanisms that could motivate them to overcome these risks: feeling of outrage generated by state repression, identification with civil society and moral obligation to resist, for example. The present study, conducted in the context of authoritarian democracy, is situated in this line of research by proposing anomic threat, considered as the perceived disintegration and deregulation of society, as an incentive variable of the propensity to protest against the system in a repressive environment. It suggests that when individuals perceive the degradation of society from the points of view of its leadership and values, they may realize that inaction is likely to accentuate it and may be inclined to participate in collective actions with a view to restore the fractured social structure and leadership, despite the risks of repression from the governing system. In this logic, the hypothesis tested predicts that perceived anomic threat reinforces the relationship between perceived political intolerance and participation in anti-system collective actions in the context of authoritarian democracy. 275 Cameroonians, aged between 17 and 47 years (M. = 24.24; S.D. = 5.71) agreed to participate in the research. Measures focused on perceived political intolerance, perceived anomic threat, perceived efficacy of collective actions, participation in anti-system collective actions, distrust and grievances towards political authority. The results show that when participants are experimentally confronted with the degrading character of society, their perception of anomic threat reinforces the relationship between political intolerance and participation in anti-system collective actions, due to the activation of negative emotions and the perceived efficacy of the said actions. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy
AU  - Gustave Adolphe Messanga
AU  - Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih
Y1  - 2022/06/20
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14
T2  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
JF  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
JO  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
SP  - 92
EP  - 104
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-7845
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14
AB  - The literature reports that individuals living in repressive environments tend to avoid participating in collective actions, in particular because of the risks of confrontation with intimidation, arbitrary arrests, violence, and even death. However, some researches has begun to document the psychosocial mechanisms that could motivate them to overcome these risks: feeling of outrage generated by state repression, identification with civil society and moral obligation to resist, for example. The present study, conducted in the context of authoritarian democracy, is situated in this line of research by proposing anomic threat, considered as the perceived disintegration and deregulation of society, as an incentive variable of the propensity to protest against the system in a repressive environment. It suggests that when individuals perceive the degradation of society from the points of view of its leadership and values, they may realize that inaction is likely to accentuate it and may be inclined to participate in collective actions with a view to restore the fractured social structure and leadership, despite the risks of repression from the governing system. In this logic, the hypothesis tested predicts that perceived anomic threat reinforces the relationship between perceived political intolerance and participation in anti-system collective actions in the context of authoritarian democracy. 275 Cameroonians, aged between 17 and 47 years (M. = 24.24; S.D. = 5.71) agreed to participate in the research. Measures focused on perceived political intolerance, perceived anomic threat, perceived efficacy of collective actions, participation in anti-system collective actions, distrust and grievances towards political authority. The results show that when participants are experimentally confronted with the degrading character of society, their perception of anomic threat reinforces the relationship between political intolerance and participation in anti-system collective actions, due to the activation of negative emotions and the perceived efficacy of the said actions. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.
VL  - 11
IS  - 3
ER  -

Copy | Download