When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy

Abstract

The literature reports that individuals living in repressive environments tend to avoid participating in collective actions, in particular because of the risks of confrontation with intimidation, arbitrary arrests, violence, and even death. However, some researches has begun to document the psychosocial mechanisms that could motivate them to overcome these risks: feeling of outrage generated by state repression, identification with civil society and moral obligation to resist, for example. The present study, conducted in the context of authoritarian democracy, is situated in this line of research by proposing anomic threat, considered as the perceived disintegration and deregulation of society, as an incentive variable of the propensity to protest against the system in a repressive environment. It suggests that when individuals perceive the degradation of society from the points of view of its leadership and values, they may realize that inaction is likely to accentuate it and may be inclined to participate in collective actions with a view to restore the fractured social structure and leadership, despite the risks of repression from the governing system. In this logic, the hypothesis tested predicts that perceived anomic threat reinforces the relationship between perceived political intolerance and participation in anti-system collective actions in the context of authoritarian democracy. 275 Cameroonians, aged between 17 and 47 years (M. = 24.24; S.D. = 5.71) agreed to participate in the research. Measures focused on perceived political intolerance, perceived anomic threat, perceived efficacy of collective actions, participation in anti-system collective actions, distrust and grievances towards political authority. The results show that when participants are experimentally confronted with the degrading character of society, their perception of anomic threat reinforces the relationship between political intolerance and participation in anti-system collective actions, due to the activation of negative emotions and the perceived efficacy of the said actions. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.

Perceived Anomic Threat, Beliefs in LGBTQ Conspiracy Theories and Support for Violence Against LGBTQ Minorities in a Highly Heteronormative Context: The Case of Cameroon

“…Thus, the present study notes that individuals' beliefs in conspiracy theories constitute a powerful mechanism to support extremist and violent behavior harmful to those targeted, who would act against in group interests (Jolley et al, 2022). The threat of these interests could reinforce their perception of the disintegration and societal deregulation characterizing anomie and encourage them to demonstrate or support extremist and violent behaviors (Crimston et al, 2022;Ionescu et al, 2021;Messanga and Ekango Nzekaih, 2022). However, while the specialized literature reveals the links between beliefs in conspiracy theories and intergroup violence, as well as the impact of the feeling of threat on the endorsement of these beliefs, little is known about the possible relationships between beliefs in LGBTQ conspiracy theories, stemming from perceptions of anomic threat and support for violence against members of the LGBTQ community.…”

“…It appears from this research that taking into account beliefs in conspiracy theories in predicting the link between anomic threat and support for violence against LGBTQ people is relevant. Indeed, this suggests that when one group feels the threat that another is conspiring against societal values, it may increase its perception that the values that regulate social behavior are becoming ineffective and illegitimate; hence the negative emotional reactions that will encourage it to adopt hostile, even violent attitudes and behaviors towards the group of conspirators (Crimston et al, 2022;Ionescu et al, 2021;Messanga and Ekango Nzekaih, 2022). Concretely, it has been observed that beliefs in conspiracy theories mediate the relation between perceived anomic threat and support for violence against LGBTQ people because it is likely to generate the emergence of homo-negative emotions such as distrust, fear, anger, disgust and hatred towards them.…”