“I Have a Dream”: A Typology of Social Change Goals

Abstract

To date, there is little in the way of theorizing or empirical work on the imagined endpoint of political action aimed at social change -the type of "dream" those engaged in action are attempting to bring into fruition. We suggest that previous approaches have focused narrowly on one type of social change -amelioration of collective grievances. In contrast, we argue that social change is much richer and imaginative than this narrow focus suggests. In the present article we draw on key constructs in social psychology (e.g., goals, efficacy, legitimacy, identity, social system, and social value) in order to develop a typology of social change goals. In doing so, we explain why people might support one type of social change (e.g., revolution) versus others (e.g., separatism or amelioration). The typology is used to discuss future directions for research and to highlight the implications for psychological (and broader) approaches to social change.

Dual routes from social identity to collective opposition to criminal organisations: Intracultural appropriation theory and the roles of honour codes and social change beliefs

“…Specifically, because COs use violence and intimidation against those who oppose them, we measure participants' perceived risk in opposing these groups. In addition, because participants' beliefs about the fairness of the current social system, and their general attitudes toward inequality and group hierarchies may be alternative explanations for their intentions to oppose COs, we measure system justification (Kay & Jost, 2003), and social dominance orientation (Pratto et al, 2013) to control for these variables.…”

“…However, social change can be a multifaceted concept that may be represented psychologically as a variety of different (regressive or progressive) goals (Sweetman, et al, 2013 Grant, et al, 2015).…”

“…Social change is a central concept in social psychology (see Abrams & Grant, 2012;Sweetman, Leach, Spears, Pratto & Saab, 2013;Tajfel, 1978). It may refer to structural and systemic changes in institutions, in socio-economic arrangements or in the relationships among groups (Louis, 2009).…”

Reality and Perception: Power and Paranoia Within the Political Sphere

“…For example, one could argue that conspiracy theories are a socially creative response to an intergroup context in which intergroup relations are stable, impermeable and illegitimate (and collective efficacy is relatively low; Sweetman, Leach, Spears, Pratto, & Swaab, 2013). Increased instability among groups could lead to direct competition between groups, whereas increased permeability could diffuse support for conspiracies (Sweetman, Leach, Spears, Pratto, & Saab, 2013;Zeineddine & Pratto).…”

Crowd Behaviour and Collective Action

“…Blackwood & Louis, 2012 ;Reicher, 1984bReicher, , 1996Stott & Drury, 2000 ). Such social identities and group dynamics infl uence whether political movements behave peacefully or violently, which may ultimately infl uence their success (Sweetman, Leach, Spears, Pratto, & Saab, 2013 ;Thomas & Louis, 2014 ).…”