Low self-control and high group identification - The aftermath of Umbrella Movement
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.511.5559Abstract
The seed of “localism” was sown in Hongkonger’s mind since the Leftist Riot in 1967. In recent years, the demolition of Queens Pier, the refusal to implement universal suffrage for the selection of the Chief Executive, the crackdown on illegal street food hawkers and the parallel trading among mainland tourists kept encouraging the revival of “localism” and frequent collective actions. Mongkok Riot is the second largest protest ever happened since Umbrella Movement and is a collective action to denounce the seriousness of socio-political problems. This study aimed to explore the underlying psychological elements of collective action participation—emotional and rational decision-making processes. Pro-movement respondents (n = 1413) aged between 19 and 67 were included and self-reported questionnaire was used as the main measure. Results revealed that there were distinct differences across self-control and group identification between rioters and protestors. In which, protestors showed high self-control and low group identification than rioters. Low level of self-control and high level of group identification were found to be an individual characteristic for repeated collective action participations. The findings also revealed that self-control, centrality to group and in-group affect are significant variables in predicting collective action participation. This study implied that the likelihood of collective action participation is determined by decision-making process which strongly influenced by self-control and group identification.
References
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundation of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Becker, J. C., Tausch, N., Spears, R., & Christ, O. (2011). Committed dis(s)idents: Participation in radical collection action fosters identification with the broader ingroup but enhances political identification. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(8), 1104-1116.
Becker, J. C., & Wright, S. C. (2011). Yet another dark side of chivalry: Benevolent sexism undermines and hostile sexism motivates collective action for social change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(1), 62-77.
Berkovitch, N., & Moghadam, V. M. (1999). Middle East politics and women’s collective action: Challenging the status quo. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 6(3), 273-291.
Brewer, M. B., & Gardner, W. (1996). Who is this “we”? Levels of collective identity and self representations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(1), 83-93.
Cameron, J. E. (2004). A three-factor model of social identity. Self and Identity, 3(3), 239-262.
Cameron, J. E., Duck, J. M., Terry, D. J., & Lalonde, R. N. (2005). Perceptions of self and group in the context of a threatened national identity: A field study. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 8(1), 73-88.
Chan, C. P. (2016). Post-Umbrella Movement: Localism and radicalness of Hong Kong student movement. Contemporary Chinese Political Economy and Strategic Relations, 2(2), 885-908.
Chen, Y. C., & Szeto, M. M. (2015). The forgotten road of progressive localism: New preservation movement in Hong Kong. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 16(3), 436-453.
Dimofte, C. V., Goodstein, R. C., & Brumbaugh, A. M. (2015). A social identity perspective on aspirational advertising: Implicit threats to collective self-esteem and strategies to overcome them. Journal of Consumer
Drury, J. (2008). Dynamics of empowerment in collective action participation: Elaborating social identity and th social change. Paper presented at 15 General Meeting of the European Association of Experimental Social Psychology. Opatija, Croatia.
Drury, J., & Reicher, S. (2000). Collective action and psychological change: The emergence of new social identities. British Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 579-604.
Drury, J., & Reicher, S. (2005). Explaining enduring empowerment: A comparative study of collective action and psychological outcomes. European Journal of Social Psychology, 35, 35-58.
Drury, J., & Reicher, S. (2009). Collective psychological empowerment as a model of social change: Researching crowds and power. Journal of Social Issues, 65(4), 707-725.
Drury, J., Reicher, S., & Scott, C. (2003). Transforming the boundaries of collective identity: From the “local” antiroad campaign to “global” resistance?. Social Movement Studies, 2, 191-212.
Feather, N. T. (1992). Values, valence, expectations, and actions. Journal of Social Issues, 48, 109-124.
Giguere, B., & Lalonde, R. N. (2010). Why do students strike? Direct and indirect determinants of collective action participation. Political Psychology, 31(2), 227-247.
Lee, A. (2018). Low Self-Control and High Group Identification: The Aftermath of Umbrella Movement and Mongkok Riot. Advances in Social
Goldenberg, A., Halperin, E., van Zomeren, M., & Gross, J. J. (2016). The process model of group-based emotion: integrating intergroup emotion and emotion regulation perspectives. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 20(2), 118-141.
Hirschi, T., & Gottfredson, M. R. (1993). Commentary: Testing the general theory of crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30(1), 47-54.
Jetten, J., Branscombe, N. R., Haslam, S. A., Haslam, C., Cruwys, T., Jones, J. M., … & Thai, A. (2015). Having a lot of a good thing: Multiple important group memberships as a source of self-esteem. PloS one, 10(5), e0124609. doc: 10.1371/journal.pone.0124609
Kaeding, M. P. (2017). The rise of “Localism” in Hong Kong. Journal of Democracy, 28(1), 157-171.
Kelly, C. (1993). Group identification, intergroup perceptions and collective action. European Review of Social
Kwong, Y. H. (2016). The growth of “Localism” in Hong Kong. A new path for the democracy movement?. China Perspectives, 2016(2016/3), 63-68.
Lam-Knott, S. (2017). Understanding protest “violence” in Hong Kong from the youth perspective. Asian Anthropology, 16(4), 279-298.
Le Bon, G. (1896). The crowd: A study of the popular mind. London: Ernest Benn.
Leach, C. W., Van Zomeren, M., Zebel, S., Vliek, M. L., Pennekamp, S. F., Doosje, B., … & Spears, R. (2008). Grouplevel self-definition and self-investment: A hierarchical (multicomponent) model of in-group identification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(1), 144-165.
Lee, A. (2018). An investigation into the relationship between moral and self-control: The aftermath of Umbrella Movement. International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research, 6(4), 32-41.
Lim, T. W. (2017). The future of Hong Kong governance: The pro-independence legislators’ election fallout and Beijing’s political voice in Hong Kong. Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, 4(2), 343-353.
Lincey, Q. I., & Lim, T. W. (2017). The rise of localist young activists in Hong Kong. East Asian Policy, 9(02), 100-107.
Louis, W. R., Taylor, D. M., & Douglas, R. L. (2005). Normative influence and rational conflict decisions: Group norms and cost-benefit analyses for intergroup behavior. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 8, 355-374.
Mallett, R. K., Huntsinger, J. R., Sinclair, S., & Swim, J. K. (2008). Seeing through their eyes: When majority group members take collective action on behalf of an outgroup. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 11(4), 451-470.
Maranges, H. M., & Baumeister, R. F. (2016). Self-control and ego depletion. In K. D. Vohs & R. F. Baumeister (Eds.), The handbook of self-regulation (pp. 42-56). New York: Guilford Press.
McPhail, C. (1991). The myth of the madding crowd. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Metcalfe, J., & Mischel, W. (1999). A hot/cool system analysis of delay of gratification: Dynamics of willpower. Psychological Review, 106(1), 3-19.
Oakes, P. J., Haslam, A., & Turner, J. C. (1994). Stereotyping and social reality. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
Reicher, S. D. (1987). Crowd behavior as social action. In J. C. Turner, M. A. Hoggs, P. J. Oakes, S. D. Reicher, & M. S. Wetherell (Eds.), Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory (pp. 171-202). Oxford: Blackwell.
Reicher, S. D. (1996). Social identity and social change: Rethinking the context of social psychology. In W. P. Robinson (Ed.), Social groups and identities: Developing the legacy of Henri Tajfel (pp. 317-336). London: Butterworth.
Reicher, S. D. (2001). The psychology of crowd dynamics. In M. A. Hogg & R. S. Tindale (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Group processes (pp. 182-208). Oxford: Blackwell.
Reicher, S. D., & Potter, J. (1985). Psychological theory as intergroup perspective: A comparative analysis of “scientific” and “lay” accounts of crowd events. Human Relations, 38, 167-189.
Schmidt, L., Fai, C. Y., & de Kloet, J. (2017). From handover to leftover: Tatming, Umbrellas, and the postcolonial ruins of Hong Kong. Situations, 10(1), 119-145.
Schmid, K., & Muldoon, O. T. (2015). Perceived threat, social identification, and psychological well-being: The effects of political conflict exposure. Political Psychology, 36(1), 75-92.
Scott, C., & Reicher, S. D. (1998). Crowd action as inter-group process: Introducing the police perspective. European Journal of Social Psychology, 28, 509-529.
Sellers, R. M., & Shelton, J. N. (2003). The role of racial identity in perceived racial discrimination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(5), 1079-1092.
Simon, B., & Klandermans, B. (2001). Politicized collective identity: A social psychological analysis. American Psychologist, 56, 319-331.
So, A. Y. (2017). A new wave of anti-mainland protests since 2012: Characteristics, socio-political origins, and political implications. Asian Education and Development Studies, 6(4), 333-342.
Spears, R., Doosje, B., & Ellemers, N. (1997). Self-sterotyping in the face of threats to group status and distinctiveness: The role of group identification. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 538-553.
Spencer-Rodgers, J., Major, B., Forster, D. E., & Peng, K. (2016). The power of affirming group values: Group affirmation buffers the self-esteem of women exposed to blatant sexism. Self and Identity, 15(4), 413-431.
Sturmer, S., & Simon, B. (2004). The role of collective identification in social movement participation: A panel study in the context of the German gay movement. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 263-277.
Tang, G., & Yuen, R. H. Y. (2016). Hong Kong as the ‘neoliberal exception’ of China: Transformation of Hong Kong citizenship before and after the transfer of sovereignty. Journal of Chinese Political Science, 21(4), 469-484.
Tangney, J. P., Boone, A. L., & Baumeister, R. F. (2004). High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. Journal of Personality, 72(2), 271-322.
Tajfel, H. (1978). Social categorization, social identity, and social comparison. In H. Tajfel (Ed.), Differentiation between social groups (pp. 61-76). London: Academic Press.
Tajfel, H. (1981). Human groups and social categories: Studies in social psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Ed.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-48). Monterey, CA: Brooks-Cole.
Thomas, E. F., Mavor, K. I., & McGarty, C. (2012). Social identities facilitates and encapsulate action-relevant constructs: A test of the social identity model of collective action. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 15(1), 75-88.
Thomas, E. F., McGarty, C., & Mavor, K. I. (2016). Group interaction as the crucible of social identity formation: A glimpse at the foundations of social identities for collective action. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 19(2), 137-151
Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Reicher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Oxford: Blackwell.
Van Zomeren, M., & Iyer, A. (2009). Introduction to the social and psychological dynamics of collective action. Journal of Social Issues, 65(4), 645-660.
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.
Van Zomeren, M., Postmes, T., & Spears, R. (2012). On conviction’s collective consequences: Integrating moral conviction with the social identity model of collective action. British Journal of Social Psychology, 51(1), 52-71.
Van Zomeren, M., Spears, R., & Leach, C. W. (2008). Exploring psychological mechanisms of collective action: Does relevance of group identity influence how people cope with collective disadvantage?. British Journal of Social
Veg, S. (2017). The rise of “localism” and civic identity in post-handover Hong Kong: Questioning the Chinese nation-state. The China Quarterly, 230, 323-347.
Vohs, K. D., Baumeister, R. F., & Schmeichel, B. J. (2012). Motivation, personal beliefs, and limited resources all contribute to self-control. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(4), 943-947.
Wikstrom, P. O. H., Oberwittler, D., Treiber, K., & Hardie, B. (2012). Breaking rules: The social and situational dynamics of young people’s urban crime. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wikstrom, P. O. H., & Treiber, K. (2007). The role of self-control in crime causation: Beyond Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime. European Journal of Criminology, 4(2), 237-264.
Wikstrom, P. O. H., & Treiber, K. (2009). Violence as situational action. International Journal of Conflict and Violence, 3(1), 75-96.
Wikstrom, P. O. H., & Treiber, K. (2016). Situational theory: The importance of interactions and action mechanisms in the explanation of crime. In A. R. Piquero (Ed.), The handbook of criminology theory (pp. 74-94). Chichester: John Wiley.
Wong, Y. C. (2017). Localism in Hong Kong: Its origins, development and prospect. Contemporary Chinese Political Economy and Strategic Relations: An International Journal, 3(2), 617-655.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2018 Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
