Mobilization Under Threat: Emotional Appeals and Pro-Opposition Political Participation Online

Abstract

Large numbers of people living under authoritarian governments participate in pro-opposition politics despite sometimes significant risks. Increasing amounts of this political participation are taking place and being organized online. Do emotions play a causal role in inducing pro-opposition participation in authoritarian regimes? Can emotions that mobilize participation be spread via social media? Through an experiment carried out by an opposition party in Zimbabwe, I test whether campaign appeals to opposition supporters’ emotions affect their level of political participation in online pro-opposition discussions. I find that across two different issue areas, randomly assigned anger appeals increase participation on average by 0.4 standard deviations more than enthusiasm appeals with the same informational content. In real terms, this represents between 30% and 170% more participation in the groups assigned to the anger appeals across four different measures of participation. There is little evidence that these effects are stronger in areas with less poverty or that have historically been affected by more violence, or when coupled with messages emphasizing personal power. These results suggest that anger appeals that highlight economic grievances can be an important force for mobilizing online political participation in repressive environments.

Youth-Led Social Movements and Peacebuilding in Africa

“…Many urbanites have become active on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp, which is arguably the most popular social media platform in the country. Young (2021) noted that social media has become a powerful tool and instrument for citizen mobilisation in autocracies across the world. In Zimbabwe, the turn to symbolic and subtle forms of protest should be understood in part as an innovative way of circumventing the risk posed by confronting an authoritarian and brutal regime.…”

How Threats of Exclusion Mobilize Palestinian Political Participation

“…Emotions often operate in tandem, and identifying the independent effects of particular emotions is not the main objective of our article. However, existing research shows that anger is a central mobilizing emotion (Bishara 2015;Valentino et al 2011;Van Stekelenburg and Klandermans 2013;Young 2021). Anger can be especially mobilizing for citizens who have experienced inequality and repression in the past (Young 2021).…”

“…However, existing research shows that anger is a central mobilizing emotion (Bishara 2015;Valentino et al 2011;Van Stekelenburg and Klandermans 2013;Young 2021). Anger can be especially mobilizing for citizens who have experienced inequality and repression in the past (Young 2021). Similarly, indignation and resentment are powerful emotions (Costalli and Ruggeri 2015;Petersen 2002), and when they are associated with situational grievances, they can motivate minority citizens to overcome collective action problems and participate in the political process (Jasper 2011).…”

“…Situational grievances can mobilize citizens through multiple channels relating to emotions, as well as expressive and instrumental motivations. Indeed, grievances can trigger emotional responses among minority group members (Van Zomeren 2013; Young 2021), and existing research demonstrates that a host of emotions, including anger (Bishara 2015; Young 2021), indignation (Costalli and Ruggeri 2015), anxiety (Gadarian and Albertson 2014), fear (Jasper 2011), and resentment (Petersen 2002), mobilize citizens. These emotions are often presented as “approach emotions” because they lead citizens to act in response to a given unsatisfying feature of their surroundings (Pearlman 2013; Petersen 2002; Van Zomeren 2013).…”

An Experimental Test of the Effects of Fear in a Coordination Game

“…A rich literature in cognitive, social, and political psychology has analyzed the effect of emotions on preferences, beliefs, and ultimately decision-making in situations involving risk and social interactions (Albertson and Gadarian 2015; Brader 2005; Damasio 1994; LeDoux 1996; Lerner and Keltner 2000, 2001; Valentino et al 2011). In particular, recent research analyzes the role of emotions in contentious politics in general and in social movements in particular (Aldama, Vásquez-Cortés and Young 2019; De Dreu and Gross 2018; Pearlman 2016; Aytac, Shiumerini and Stokes 2017; Young 2019, 2021). However, we still have limited evidence on the mechanisms by which emotions affect risky collective action, whether emotions affect behaviors, and how emotions’ effects vary across contexts.…”