Collective action
My research explores the motivations and barriers to participation in collective action, considering individual-level processes like emotional experiences and broader structural factors, such as oppression and systemic dominance. I also examine how the public reacts to both collective action and its repression, as well as the dynamics of allyship between disadvantaged and advantaged groups.
The impact of ally involvement and protest tactics on public support in the pro-Palestinian student movement
(In preparation)
H2020-MSCA project
This research examines the combined impact of ally involvement and protest tactics on public attitudes toward collective action. Focusing on the pro-Palestinian student movement on U.S. college campuses, we explore how the inclusion of Jewish allies and the use of normative (e.g., peaceful marches) versus nonnormative (e.g., disruptive encampments) protest tactics shaped public support for the movement and its policy goals. Our findings indicate that while the presence of Jewish allies did not significantly impact policy support, both normative and nonnormative tactics, were perceived as disruptive and effective in shifting policy support, particularly among conservatives.
Use of Violence Against Protesters Erodes Public Support for the Police
(In preparation)
H2020-MSCA project
How does the public react to police violence against protest movements? Prior theory and research offers divergent expectations, predicting either null, negative, or highly polarized public responses to police violence against protesters. Drawing on theories of moral judgment, we hypothesize that police violence against protesters erodes public trust in, and public support for, police, and that this effect will be diminished, but not eliminated where protesters themselves engage in violence. We test these hypotheses in the U.S. context, across one field study and five preregistered experiments, investigating a diversity of protest movements. First, we estimated the effects of 6,425 documented racial justice protests occurring in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd's murder, alongside data from the Congressional Cooperative Election Study (N = 46,918). Results show that Americans living in counties where police used violence against racial justice protesters subsequently reported decreased support for police and increased support for police reform, relative to those living in counties where the police did not use violence. Next, results of four preregistered experimental studies (total N = 3,349) demonstrate that police violence directed at various movements (e.g., BLM, anti-abortion) reduced public trust in the police, and this effect was mediated by perceptions that police behavior was harmful and, therefore, immoral. Police violence also led to increased support for police reforms such as decreasing funding for police, citizen review boards, and mandatory body cameras. Notably, neither political ideology, nor party identification, significantly influenced responses to police violence. Finally, a fifth experiment found that the negative effect of police violence on trust in police was significantly reduced - but not eliminated - if protesters had also engaged in violence. These results show that - while use of violence against social movements may repress protest activities in the short term - it also elicits broad-based negative moral judgments and increased support for public regulation and divestment, even in a highly partisan political environment.
