Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, Italy.
Br J Soc Psychol. 2011 Dec;50(4):690-706. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8309.2011.02068.x. Epub 2011 Oct 12.
An intriguing question for scholars of collective action is how participants of unsuccessful actions become re-engaged in future collective activities. At an individual level, previous research has shown that after negative outcomes counterfactual thoughts ('if only … ') may serve to prepare for future action. In the current research, we investigated whether counterfactuals may also prepare for future action at a collective level. After a defeat of their party at the regional elections, 163 political activists rated their agreement with abstract (as opposed to concrete) and party-focused (as opposed to other-focused) counterfactuals about how the elections outcome might have been better. Results showed that abstract counterfactuals, dealing with the core elements of the elections, supported collective action intention better than concrete ones. Consistent with the recent developments of dual-pathway models of collective action, counterfactuals predicted collective action intention through the mediation of group efficacy and group identification. In particular, while both party- and other-focused abstract counterfactuals increased group efficacy, only other-focused abstract counterfactuals increased group identification. Discussion focuses on how the investigation of counterfactuals can enlarge our knowledge of the socio-cognitive antecedents of collective action.
对于集体行动的学者来说，一个有趣的问题是，不成功行动的参与者如何重新参与未来的集体活动。在个人层面上，先前的研究表明，在负面结果出现后，反事实思维（“要是……就好了”）可能有助于为未来的行动做准备。在当前的研究中，我们调查了反事实思维是否也可以在集体层面上为未来的行动做准备。在他们所在政党在地区选举中失败后，163 名政治活动家对他们对选举结果本可以如何改善的抽象（相对于具体）和以政党为中心（相对于以其他为中心）反事实的认同程度进行了评价。结果表明，处理选举核心要素的抽象反事实比具体反事实更能支持集体行动的意图。与集体行动的双通道模型的最新发展一致，反事实通过群体效能感和群体认同来预测集体行动意图。特别是，虽然以政党为中心和以其他为中心的抽象反事实都增加了群体效能感，但只有以其他为中心的抽象反事实增加了群体认同。讨论的重点是，对反事实的研究如何扩大我们对集体行动的社会认知前因的了解。
