From imagination to activism: Cognitive alternatives motivate commitment to activism through identification with social movements and collective efficacy.

ABSTRACT: Having a vision and being able to imagine socially and ecologically just alternatives can motivate people for societal transformation. However, which psychological processes drive this link between the mental accessibility of societal alternatives and collective action? We hypothesized that collective efficacy beliefs and politicized identification form two pathways mediating the effects of cognitive alternatives on high-cost activist behaviour. Two studies and a pooled analysis tested these hypotheses longitudinally. Data were collected in two field settings: a climate camp and an online conference on socio-ecological visions. In line with our assumptions, and across three of the four analysed timeframes, latent change score modelling showed that changes in cognitive alternatives predicte

SUBMITTER: Bleh J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11590046 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature