1st Edition

The Social and Political Psychology of Protest Across and Within Cultures

Edited By Martijn van Zomeren Copyright 2026
244 Pages 18 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

244 Pages 18 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

244 Pages 18 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

This topical book explores the phenomenon of when and why people protest. Based on social and political psychology, the book takes a comparative approach across and within cultures and examines how human motivation and political and cultural contexts affect protests. Showcasing state-of-the-art chapters from a new generation of social protest researchers, the book offers an overview of research... Read more

Contents

 

Introduction

 

Chapter 1:
An Introduction to This Volume: Motivations for Social Protest and the Contexts in Which They Are Embedded

Martijn van Zomeren

 

Section I: Motivations across Contexts

 

Chapter 2:
Engaging in the Struggle for Justice: Morality as an Essential Driving Force of Social Protest.

Marcos Dono, Mónica Alzate and José Manuel Sabucedo

 

Chapter 3:
Malleability and Change Motivation Beliefs in Social Protest (versus Conflict Resolution)

Smadar Cohen-Chen

 

Chapter 4:
Examining Nostalgia’s Potential to Increase Solidarity-Based Protest against Ageism:
The Case of “Age Demands Action”

Inga Pauls*, Karolina Urbanska*, Martijn van Zomeren*, Keragan Cavolo, Medhi Marot, Tim Wildschut and Constantine Sedikides

 

Chapter 5:
Environmental Collective Action in Germany and Beyond: An Opportunity to Extend Theory and Practice
Karen Hamann, Sophia Dasch, and Anna-Sophie von Agris

 

Chapter 6:
A Unique Motivational Profile for Activists? Towards a More Comprehensive Social Identity Model of Collective Action

Ruthie Pliskin, Frederik Wermser, Eran Halperin and Martijn van Zomeren

 

Section 2: Motivations within Contexts

 

Chapter 7:
Toward System Change, But in Opposite Directions: The Reactionary-Progressive Tension in Italy

Valeria De Cristofaro & Valerio Pellegrini

 

Chapter 8:
Opre, Roma!: Discrimination, Misrecognition and Indifference as Challenges for Roma Activism and Allyship

Barbara Lášticová, Judit Ignácz, and Anna Kende

 

Chapter 9:
The Power in Numbers (PIN) Hypothesis: How Common Ingroup Identities Motivate Collective Action Among Groups that Face Violent Existential Threats

Huseyin Cakal, Faris Nadhmi, Abha Chauhan, Zafer Özkan, John Dixon and Martijn van Zomeren

 

Chapter 10:
Why They (Do Not) Protest: A Critical Social Psychological Perspective on Collective Action in Palestine 

Siwar Hasan-Aslih & Sandra Penić

 

Chapter 11:
Social Protest in Chile: Moralization of Attitudes Through Politicization of Social Movement Identity

Ana Leal, Belén Álvarez, and Roberto González

 

Conclusion

Chapter 12:
Toward an Integrative Social and Political Psychology of Social Protest Within and Across Cultures

Martijn van Zomeren

 

Biography

Martijn van Zomeren is Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. He holds a chair in the political and cultural psychology of social relationships. His research interests fall broadly in the domain of human motivation and social behavior, and he is well known for his integrative theoretical and empirical work on core motivations for social protest.