Greens or space invaders: Prominent utopian themes and effects on social change motivation

Abstract

One way in which individuals can participate in action to change the society they live in is through the pursuit of an ideal society or “utopia”; however, the content of that utopia is a likely determinant of its motivational impact. Here we examined two predominant prototypes of utopia derived from previous research and theory—the Green and Sci‐Fi utopias. When participants were primed with either of these utopias, the Green utopia was perceived to entail a range of other positive characteristics (e.g., warmth, positive emotions) and—provided it was positively evaluated—tended to elicit both motivation and behaviour for social change. In contrast, the Sci‐Fi utopia was associated with low motivation, even when it was positively evaluated. Furthermore, the Green utopia was shown to elicit greater perceptions of participative efficacy, which in turn predicted the increase in social change motivation.

Imagining better societies: A social psychological framework for the study of utopian thinking and collective action

“…Recent work suggests that the specific contents of utopian visions affect the motivation to participate in social change. Fernando et al () asked participants to imagine and write about one of two utopian visions: a “Green” (pro‐environmental) utopia and a “Sci‐Fi” (futuristic and technological) utopia. Results revealed that imagining the Green utopia – providing that it was positively evaluated by the individual – elicited greater motivation for social change, and this was mediated by stronger perceptions of participative efficacy, namely the sense that ordinary people can make a difference when it comes to achieving the utopian vision.…”

“…Recent work suggests that the specific contents of utopian visions affect the motivation to participate in social change. Fernando et al (2019) asked participants to imagine and write about one of two utopian visions: a "Green"…”

“…It would be useful to build on previous work by developing experimental manipulations of utopian thinking. Laboratory interventions might include inviting individuals to freely consider what an ideal society would look like (Fernando et al, 2018) and/or having them read (or watch) depictions of utopian societies in which human beings appear to flourish (Fernando et al, 2019). Another possibility would be to present people with factual information about contemporary societies that come closer than their own to ideals of social and economic equality, as in Scandinavian countries (Norton & Ariely, 2011).…”

“…It is also possible that imagining the Sci‐Fi utopia would have increased the motivation for other types of social change – such as consumption behaviors or voting decisions – that were not measured in the study by Fernando et al ().…”

“…For a comprehensive review of the emotion of hope from the perspective of appraisal theory, focusing on the context of intergroup conflict, interested readers are referred toCohen-Chen et al (2017).5 It is also possible that imagining the Sci-Fi utopia would have increased the motivation for other types of social changesuch as consumption behaviors or voting decisionsthat were not measured in the study byFernando et al (2019).…”