Motivations to engage in collective action: A latent profile analysis of refugee supporters

TY - JOUR

T1 - Motivations to engage in collective action

T2 - A latent profile analysis of refugee supporters

AU - Yip, Lisette

AU - Thomas, Emma F.

AU - Bliuc, Ana-Maria

AU - Boza, Mihaela

AU - Kende, Anna

AU - Lizzio-Wilson, Morgana

AU - Reese, Gerhard

AU - Smith, Laura G. E.

N1 - © 2024 The Author(s). British Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.

PY - 2025/1

Y1 - 2025/1

N2 - What motivates people to participate in collective action? Some actions such as symbolic or online actions are often critiqued as performative allyship, motivated by personal gain rather than genuine concern for the cause. We aim to adjudicate this argument by examining the quality of motivations for acting, drawing on the insights of self-determination theory and the social identity approach. Using latent profile analysis, we examined whether there are different types of supporters of refugees based on their underlying motives. In Study 1, we surveyed supporters of Syrian refugees from six nations (N = 936) and measured autonomous and controlled motivation, pro-refugee identification and collective action. In Study 2 (N = 1994), we surveyed supporters of Ukrainian refugees in Romania, Hungary and the UK. We found 4-5 profiles in each sample and consistently found that supporters with high autonomous motivation take more action than disengaged or ambivalent supporters (low/neutral on all motives). However, contrary to the tenets of self-determination theory, those high in both autonomous and controlled motives were the most engaged. We conclude that the most committed supporters are those with multiple motives, but further research is needed on the role of controlled motivation.

AB - What motivates people to participate in collective action? Some actions such as symbolic or online actions are often critiqued as performative allyship, motivated by personal gain rather than genuine concern for the cause. We aim to adjudicate this argument by examining the quality of motivations for acting, drawing on the insights of self-determination theory and the social identity approach. Using latent profile analysis, we examined whether there are different types of supporters of refugees based on their underlying motives. In Study 1, we surveyed supporters of Syrian refugees from six nations (N = 936) and measured autonomous and controlled motivation, pro-refugee identification and collective action. In Study 2 (N = 1994), we surveyed supporters of Ukrainian refugees in Romania, Hungary and the UK. We found 4-5 profiles in each sample and consistently found that supporters with high autonomous motivation take more action than disengaged or ambivalent supporters (low/neutral on all motives). However, contrary to the tenets of self-determination theory, those high in both autonomous and controlled motives were the most engaged. We conclude that the most committed supporters are those with multiple motives, but further research is needed on the role of controlled motivation.

KW - collective action

KW - latent profile analysis

KW - performative allyship

KW - refugees

KW - self-determination theory

KW - social identity approach

UR - https://osf.io/un4a5/?view_only=c0e007d9531043a9817808d0ae9a7fc9

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85197681344

U2 - 10.1111/bjso.12786

DO - 10.1111/bjso.12786

M3 - Article

C2 - 38979945

SN - 0144-6665

VL - 64

JO - British Journal of Social Psychology

JF - British Journal of Social Psychology

IS - 1

M1 - e12786

ER -