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

Gustave Adolphe Messanga; Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih

doi:doi:10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14

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

Gustave Adolphe Messanga, Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih

Published in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 11, Issue 3)

Received: 27 May 2022 Accepted: 13 June 2022 Published: 20 June 2022

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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.

Published in	Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 11, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14
Page(s)	92-104
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Political Intolerance, Anomic Threat, Anti-system Collective Actions, Authoritarian Democracy, Cameroon

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Gustave Adolphe Messanga, Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih. (2022). When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 11(3), 92-104. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14

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Gustave Adolphe Messanga; Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih. When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2022, 11(3), 92-104. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14

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Gustave Adolphe Messanga, Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih. When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy. Psychol Behav Sci. 2022;11(3):92-104. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14

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@article{10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14,
  author = {Gustave Adolphe Messanga and Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih},
  title = {When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy},
  journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
  volume = {11},
  number = {3},
  pages = {92-104},
  doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20221103.14},
  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.},
 year = {2022}
}

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T1  - When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy
AU  - Gustave Adolphe Messanga
AU  - Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih
Y1  - 2022/06/20
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N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14
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JF  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
JO  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
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AB  - 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.
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Gustave Adolphe Messanga

Department of Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon
Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih

Department of Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon

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Gustave Adolphe Messanga, Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih. (2022). When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 11(3), 92-104. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14

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Gustave Adolphe Messanga; Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih. When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2022, 11(3), 92-104. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14

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Gustave Adolphe Messanga, Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih. When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy. Psychol Behav Sci. 2022;11(3):92-104. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14

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@article{10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14,
  author = {Gustave Adolphe Messanga and Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih},
  title = {When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy},
  journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
  volume = {11},
  number = {3},
  pages = {92-104},
  doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20221103.14},
  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.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - When Society Deteriorates: Political Intolerance, Perceived Anomic Threat and Participation in Anti-system Collective Actions in the Context of Authoritarian Democracy
AU  - Gustave Adolphe Messanga
AU  - Hermann Kevin Ekango Nzekaih
Y1  - 2022/06/20
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14
T2  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
JF  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
JO  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
SP  - 92
EP  - 104
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-7845
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14
AB  - 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.
VL  - 11
IS  - 3
ER  -

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