Abstract
8 March (8M), now known as International Women’s Day, is a day for feminist claims where demonstrations are organized in over 150 countries, with the participation of millions of women all around the world. These demonstrations can be viewed as collective rituals and thus focus attention on the processes that facilitate different psychosocial effects. This work aims to explore the mechanisms (i.e., behavioral and attentional synchrony, perceived emotional synchrony, and positive and transcendent emotions) involved in participation in the demonstrations of 8 March 2020, collective and ritualized feminist actions, and their correlates associated with personal well-being (i.e., affective well-being and beliefs of personal growth) and collective well-being (i.e., social integration variables: situated identity, solidarity and fusion), collective efficacy and collective growth, and behavioral intention to support the fight for women’s rights. To this end, a cross-cultural study was conducted with the participation of 2,854 people (age 18–79; M = 30.55; SD = 11.66) from countries in Latin America (Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador) and Europe (Spain and Portugal), with a retrospective correlational cross-sectional design and a convenience sample. Participants were divided between demonstration participants (n = 1,271; 94.0% female) and non-demonstrators or followers who monitored participants through the media and social networks (n = 1,583; 75.87% female). Compared with non-demonstrators and with males, female and non-binary gender respondents had greater scores in mechanisms and criterion variables. Further random-effects model meta-analyses revealed that the perceived emotional synchrony was consistently associated with more proximal mechanisms, as well as with criterion variables. Finally, sequential moderation analyses showed that proposed mechanisms successfully mediated the effects of participation on every criterion variable. These results indicate that participation in 8M marches and demonstrations can be analyzed through the literature on collective rituals. As such, collective participation implies positive outcomes both individually and collectively, which are further reinforced through key psychological mechanisms, in line with a Durkheimian approach to collective rituals.
Highlights
In this work, we aim to study the relationship between participation in the 8 March (8M) demonstrations and personal and collective well-being and to explore the psychosocial mechanisms involved in this relationship. 8M, known as International Women’s Day, is a date to commemorate the long history of struggle and sacrifice to obtain women’s rights
While it has been demonstrated that participation in collective rituals or collective ritualized actions improves personal well-being (e.g., Tewari et al, 2012; Páez et al, 2015) and collective well-being (e.g., Zumeta et al, 2016), surprisingly, we find no previous work that has focused on studying the 8M demonstrations from this perspective
This study is consistent with Durkheim’s theoretical proposal (Durkheim, 1912/2008), later developed by Collins (2004), analyzing the 8M demonstrations from the perspective of collective rituals. Participation in these ritualized collective actions is related to a series of positive effects on wellbeing, both individually and collectively
Summary
We aim to study the relationship between participation in the 8 March (8M) demonstrations and personal and collective well-being and to explore the psychosocial mechanisms involved in this relationship. 8M, known as International Women’s Day, is a date to commemorate the long history of struggle and sacrifice to obtain women’s rights. Numerous data and research studies confirm that, still in the twenty-first century, being a woman is a social burden with consequences in all areas (e.g., World Economic Forum [WEF], 2020) For all these reasons, 8M is, par excellence, the day for feminist claims, organizing marches and demonstrations in over 150 countries, with the participation of millions of women (along with some men and other people of non-binary identities). 8M is, par excellence, the day for feminist claims, organizing marches and demonstrations in over 150 countries, with the participation of millions of women (along with some men and other people of non-binary identities) It draws noteworthy social and media visibility all around the world (e.g., Franco, 2018), as it states its nonconformity with the patriarchal structure that discriminates against women. In line with other research, this study is based on the premise that feminism must be understood as a social movement based on the belief that women and men are equal and must have the same rights, and whose ultimate objective is to put an end to the subordination of women (Basow, 1992; Pellicer and Asin, 2018)
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