Anger and positive emotions in political protest

This study analyses the role played by emotions in protest. In the current explanatory models, anger is the sole emotion associated with these actions. But is anger the only motive capable of mobilising citizens to defend a cause? We believe not. Hence, we postulate that anger, along with other emot...

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Autores:
Tipo de recurso:
article
Fecha de publicación:
2014
Institución:
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Repositorio:
Repositorio Universidad Javeriana
Idioma:
spa
OAI Identifier:
oai:repository.javeriana.edu.co:10554/32722
Acceso en línea:
http://revistas.javeriana.edu.co/index.php/revPsycho/article/view/7367
http://hdl.handle.net/10554/32722
Palabra clave:
emociones positivas; ira; protesta política; recortes en educación
positive emotions; political protest; anger; education cutbacks
Rights
openAccess
License
Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 4.0 Internacional
Description
Summary:This study analyses the role played by emotions in protest. In the current explanatory models, anger is the sole emotion associated with these actions. But is anger the only motive capable of mobilising citizens to defend a cause? We believe not. Hence, we postulate that anger, along with other emotions of positive valence, must act jointly to facilitate protest. To test this hypothesis, a questionnaire was applied to 316 university students in a setting of cut-backs in education. The results highlight several interesting aspects. Firstly, anger correlated significantly and positively with the positive emotions. Secondly, the mediation analysis performed showed: a) the relevance of positive emotions for explaining the intention to participate; and b) the influence of anger on the intention to participate is fundamentally through positive emotions. We will also discuss the role of emotions and the need to extend the motives involved in political actions.