Protest Behavior Research Articles

Онлайн-поведение пользователей новых медиа в преддверии массовых уличных протестов в России в январе и апреле 2021 года

The purpose of this work is to identify the specifics of the online audience behavior before major street actions in Russia: how users react to current events, what is the focus of their attention, which authors, publics and publications are gaining popularity. The research was held on 7 social media platforms and based on content analysis including both a quantitative and a qualitative methodology. A certain similarity was revealed in the behavior of users of different platforms within the same period: they were interested in the same news and the positions of the same personalities. In addition, Twitter and social media users showed an increased interest in each other's reactions to the events that concerned them. The «climate of opinions» investigation held by social media users was especially obvious before the rally, announced suddenly. The research also revealed similarities in media consumption, interest in the same opinion leaders and a similar level of politicization before rallies among users of 5 platforms. These social media form a unified segment of the public sphere. The research data suggest that the platforms where «the climate of opinions» leans in favor of the protest agenda are more likely to influence protest activity. At the same time, direct calls to take to the streets seem to have an insignificant impact on protest behavior.

Протестный потенциал и протестная активность современной российской молодежи: ценностные доминанты, динамика и тенденции

This study analyzed the phenomenon of youth protest activity in modern Russia. The purpose of the work is to identify the specifics of the formation and development of the phenomenon of youth protest in the Russian Federation. Currently, there is an increase in social tension among young people, which is due to a large number of phenomena and factors. By analyzing the cases of protest activity in the Russian Federation over the past 10 years, their causes, mechanisms of organization, actors, stages, resources, and results have been identified in the dynamics. Based on the analysis of the results of sociological studies of protest activity of modern Russian youth and cases of protest activity, the article analyzes value orientations, dynamics and trends in the development of this phenomenon, presents concepts containing an analysis of the specifics of social protest, considers factors associated with the strengthening of various effects of the influence of digital communications on the political interaction of citizens and processes associated with the complexity of the nature and structure of political communication. Two structural levels of the system of social factors of protest behavior are identified: individual protest behavior and protest social movement, the most significant factors of protest social activity of young people are characterized. Based on the analysis of the results of a number of sociological studies devoted to the study of the role of digital communications on the protest social activity of Russian youth, it is concluded that the influence of digital networks on the political activity of citizens is increasing, while at present there is not a decrease in the civic activity of young people, but a change in the models of their participation in political events.

Why Do People Engage in Unlawful Political Protest? Examining the Role of Authoritarianism in Illegal Protest Behavior

Prior research on individual-level drivers of protest has primarily focused on legal protest. However, less is known about what makes people engage in unlawful protest activities. Building upon previous literature on the collective action dilemma, socialization on violent and high-risk social movements, and political psychology, we expect that illegal protest frequency varies at different levels of authoritarianism. We explore the relationship between authoritarian values and illegal protest by analyzing a two-wave panel survey data gathered in the US. The results of cross-sectional, lagged, and autoregressive ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models show that when controlling for legal protest and other relevant variables in protest behavior, authoritarianism predicts illegal protest following an inverted U-shaped relationship. In other words, average levels of authoritarianism predict more frequent engagement in illegal protest, while this frequency decreases as approaching the poles of the authoritarianism scale.

Does repression undermine opposition demands? The case of the Hong Kong National Security Law

AbstractDoes political repression extinguish public support for opposition demands? Protest emerges as a consequence of grievances and political preferences expressed as demands. Although the literature on the repression–dissent nexus has primarily focused on whether repression effectively deters dissenting behavior, a limitation is that researchers do not often distinguish between behavior and preferences. One possible implication is that although the observable protest behavior can be reduced by repression, underlying opposition demands may remain intact or even be strengthened. Hence, the question of why repression should alter public preferences remains theoretically under-investigated, because there is limited micro-level evidence that captures changes in opposition preferences induced by a repressive episode. We fielded comparable conjoint experiments before and after the enactment of the Hong Kong National Security Law in June 2020. Support for the demands was largely stable despite the sweeping powers of the law to curb protests, although some moderation of demands was observed. We outline avenues for future research on mechanisms and implications entailed by the effects of repression on preferences.

Evolutionary game analysis of stakeholder behavior strategies in ‘Not in My Backyard’ conflicts: Effect of the intervention by environmental Non-Governmental Organizations

Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) involved in ‘Not in My Backyard’ (NIMBY) incidents can effectively restrain the protest behavior of stakeholders. With or without the involvement of environmental NGOs, a tripartite game model among the government, operating enterprises and surrounding residents is built by complying with the evolutionary game theory. Subsequently, the tripartite evolutionary game is simulated by exploiting the system dynamics to investigate the stability of stakeholder interactions, and the effect of different reward and punishment strategies on game processes and equilibrium states with the involvement of environmental NGOs. The simulation results are presented below. First, without the involvement of environmental NGOs, the equilibrium point of the tripartite evolutionary game system is expressed as (0, 0, 0), and it will not be altered for changes in external variables. NIMBY conflicts are inevitable. Second, with the involvement of environmental NGOs, their behavioral decision-making strengthens rewards and punishments more rigorously, which can efficiently decrease the proportion of their protest behaviors, while causing the fluctuation of the evolution curve. Last, to ensure the high stability of the game process, a dynamic reward and punishment mechanism should be introduced to act on the evolutionary game system of the stakeholders. As stressed in the mentioned findings, (1) the evolutionary game modelling and system dynamics simulations show that the intervention of environmental NGOs can effectively avoid NIMBY conflicts. (2) The involvement of environmental NGOs can reduce NIMBY conflict behavior of stakeholders, whereas static rewards and sanctions can cause the stakeholder evolutionary curve to fluctuate. (3) To alleviate the fluctuation, environmental NGOs are required to introduce the dynamic reward and punishment mechanism. To be specific, changes in penalty coefficients can improve the achievement of the desired state. The present study puts foreword specific and illuminating recommendations which can mediate NIMBY conflicts in various nations.

Prevalence of Missing Values and Protest Zeros in Contingent Valuation in Dental Medicine.

Background: The number of contingent valuation (CV) studies in dental medicine using willingness-to-pay (WTP) methodology has substantially increased in recent years. Missing values due to absent information (i.e., missingness) or false information (i.e., protest zeros) are a common problem in WTP studies. The objective of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of missing values in CV studies in dental medicine, to assess how these have been dealt with, and to suggest recommendations for future research. Methods: We systematically searched electronic databases (MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PROSPERO) on 8 June 2021, and hand-searched references of selected reviews. CV studies in clinical dentistry using WTP for valuing a good or service were included. Results: We included 49 WTP studies in our review. Out of these, 19 (38.8%) reported missing values due to absent information, and 28 (57.1%) reported zero values (i.e., WTP valued at zero). Zero values were further classified into true zeros (i.e., representing the underlying preference of the respondent) or protest zeros (i.e., false information as a protest behavior) in only 9 studies. Most studies used a complete case analysis to address missingness while only one study used multiple imputation. Conclusions: There is uncertainty in the dental literature on how to address missing values and zero values in CV studies. Zero values need to be classified as true zeros versus protest zeros with follow-up questions after the WTP elicitation procedure, and then need to be handled differently. Advanced statistical methods are available to address both missing values due to missingness and due to protest zeros but these are currently underused in dental medicine. Failing to appropriately address missing values in CV studies may lead to biased WTP estimates of dental interventions.

How to Capture Global Protest Trends: Using Survey Data Recycling Data to Construct Cross-National Trends in Protest

A common claim about the affluent democracies is that protest is trending, becoming more legitimate and widely used by all political contenders. In the new democracies, protest is seen as having contributed to democratization, but growing apathy has led to protest decline while in authoritarian regimes protest may be spurring more democratization. Assessing these ideas requires comparative trend data covering 15 or more years but constructing such data confronts problems. The major problem is that the most available survey item asks “have you ever joined (lawful) demonstrations,” making it difficult to time when this protest behavior occurred. We advance a novel method for timing these “ever” responses by focusing on young adults (aged 18-23 years), who are likely reporting on participation within the past 5 years. Drawing on the Survey Data Recycling harmonized data set, we use a multilevel model including harmonization and survey quality controls to create predicted probabilities for young adult participation (576 surveys, 119 countries, 1966-2010). Aggregating these to create country-year rate estimates, these compare favorably with overlapping estimates from surveys asking about “the past 5 years or so” and event data from the PolDem project. Harmonization and survey quality controls improve these predicted values. These data provide 15+ years trend estimates for 60 countries, which we use to illustrate the possibilities of estimating comparative protest trends.

Survey Data Quality in Analyzing Harmonized Indicators of Protest Behavior: A Survey Data Recycling Approach

This article proposes a new approach to analyze protest participation measured in surveys of uneven quality. Because single international survey projects cover only a fraction of the world’s nations in specific periods, researchers increasingly turn to ex-post harmonization of different survey data sets not a priori designed as comparable. However, very few scholars systematically examine the impact of the survey data quality on substantive results. We argue that the variation in source data, especially deviations from standards of survey documentation, data processing, and computer files—proposed by methodologists of Total Survey Error, Survey Quality Monitoring, and Fitness for Intended Use—is important for analyzing protest behavior. In particular, we apply the Survey Data Recycling framework to investigate the extent to which indicators of attending demonstrations and signing petitions in 1,184 national survey projects are associated with measures of data quality, controlling for variability in the questionnaire items. We demonstrate that the null hypothesis of no impact of measures of survey quality on indicators of protest participation must be rejected. Measures of survey documentation, data processing, and computer records, taken together, explain over 5% of the intersurvey variance in the proportions of the populations attending demonstrations or signing petitions.

Socio-psychological diagnostics and forecasting protest behavior of youth in the digital environment

The article provides the results of a search empirical study of the impact of digital communications on the protest behavior of young people in the digital environment. The authors conducted the study on the basis of the State University of Management from November 2019 to April 2020. In the course of its implementation, the civil and political practices of student youth during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and mass self-isolation were studied and updated. The paper determines the most common forms of protest activity of university students, names the main reasons for their participation or non-participation in mass protest actions. It has been empirically proven that the increase in protest behavior of young people is determined by an increase in the amount of political information with a high number of likes and reposts. In order to deactivate protest moods among young people, reduce the threats of their protest behavior and improve attitudes towards the authorities, the authors developed practical recommendations that involve social monitoring of sites, forums, pages and communities on the Internet, where young people can freely express their opinions, express dissatisfaction, and receive explanations about the actions of the authorities. The study also recommends to stimulate “feedback” with the authorities, improve public opinion on the actions or inaction of the authorities, increase the influence of citizens’ assessments on the work of state and municipal authorities. The paper states the importance of tracking youth groups prone to extremism, carrying out preventive measures with students in schools, students in colleges and universities, teaching them legal literacy. To get answers to questions about the political and economic consequences awaiting our country after the end of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as about the essence of the predicted threats, the authors plan the study on a more representative sample.

Mobilization, Mass Perceptions, and (Dis)information: “New” and “Old” Media Consumption Patterns and Protest

When people join in moments of mass protest, what role do different media sources play in their mobilization? Do the same media sources align with positive views of mass mobilizations among the public in their aftermath? And, what is the relationship between media consumption patterns and believing disinformation about protest events? Addressing these questions helps us to better understand not only what brings crowds onto the streets, but also what shapes perceptions of, and disinformation about mass mobilization among the wider population. Employing original data from a nationally representative panel survey in Ukraine ( Hale, Colton, Onuch, & Kravets, 2014 ) conducted shortly after the 2013–2014 EuroMaidan mobilization, we examine patterns of media consumption among both participants and non-participants, as well as protest supporters and non-supporters. We also explore variation in media consumption among those who believe and reject disinformation about the EuroMaidan. We test hypotheses, prominent in current protest literature, related to the influence of “new” (social media and online news) and “old” media (television) on protest behavior and attitudes. Making use of the significance of 2014 Ukraine as a testing ground for Russian disinformation tactics, we also specifically test for consumption of Russian-owned television. Our findings indicate that frequent consumption of “old” media, specifically Russian-owned television, is significantly associated with both mobilization in and positive perceptions of protest and is a better predictor of believing “fake news” than consuming “new” media sources.

RESEARCH OF PROTEST ACTIVITY OF THE POPULATION IN FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC SCIENCE

Organized protest actions of citizens have an increasing impact on the socio-political processes in Kazakhstan and Europe. The modern protest takes on new forms, and the opening technical opportunities are used to mobilize participants. In such conditions, the assessment of the protest potential, the identification of «points of instability» and the understanding of the possible negative public reaction to the decisions of the political elite become important tasks of modern political management. The article considers the main theoretical approaches to the study of protest behavior in foreign sociology.

Psychological aspects of political participation and protest readiness of the youth of Primorsky Krai

Changes that take place in the Russian society generate conflicts that are often implemented in  form of a protest. Youth is the peculiar actor of protest behavior. The subject of this research is the psychological, namely emotional aspect of the attitude towards politics and its engagement into political interest and political behavior (including protest behavior) of youth of the Far East. The research involved 254 students from several universities of Primorsky Krai. Questionnaire that included a number of blocks aimed at studying emotions, interest in politics, political participation, and protest behavior was used for collecting the information. Application of the categorical method of key components, the author determined the two forms of potential protest behavior: “radical” and “moderate”. “Radical protest” reveals correlation with an entire range of negative emotions, while “moderate protest” has relatively few emotional correlates and is more typical among female respondents. “Radical” protest indicates high political activity: its supporters actively participate in politics in one or another way; “moderate” protest does not indicate such correlates. Therefore, politically active youth is more likely to have radical protest moods. The analysis of emotional attitude towards government can be considered as a marker of protest potential and its vector towards “softer” or “aggressive” forms of protest. The acquired results are valuable for government authorities, political parties, and educational institutions.

ФЕНОМЕН СОЦИАЛЬНОГО ПРОТЕСТА В РАЗРЕЗЕ ПОКАЗАТЕЛЕЙ СОЦИАЛЬНО-ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКОЙ СТАБИЛЬНОСТИ

The article examines the influence of the components of the socio-economic environment on the level of social tension and protest activity in the context of indicators of social and economic stability. From a dialectical point of view, the interpretation of the sociogenesis of protest behavior as an integral differentiism of the socio-economic environment is given. Based on the results of the lexical analysis, generalization of already existing definitions, the author's definition of the concept of "protest" is proposed. Based on the characteristics of the concept of social and economic stability, the opinion is argued that the decisive components of the socio-economic environment that affect the stability of the system are indicators of the level and quality of life. From the standpoint of economic security, the risks of reducing the purchasing power of citizens and rising consumer prices are justified. Based on the study of the category "quality of life" as an indicator that has a significant impact on the growth of social tension, it is proposed to supplement the characteristics of this indicator with a new criterion "social atmosphere". In the conclusion of the article, the author's classification of the causes of protest communication in modern conditions is presented as a result.

Differentiation of the quality of life in the regional space

The quality of life depends on the place in the social structure. Social groups have different opportunities for meeting needs and achieving goals. Positions of different social groups in the subjects of the Russian Federation differ, which can significantly influence social well-being and protest moods; therefore, the study of the quality of life in the regional space is important in both theoretical and practical perspectives. The article aims at considering differentiation of the quality of life in the regional space and identifying the most vulnerable social groups. The authors study the quality of life with the multidimensional hierarchical approach based on a complex of interrelated objective and subjective criteria. This methodology was tested in the empirical study of the quality of life in the Oryol Region. The study used the following set of indicators of the quality of life: subjective assessments of the most significant forms of deprivation; movable and immovable property; housing and the quality of living conditions; savings; access to paid social services; professional position, possibilities of professional self-realization; political activity and political culture; leisure preferences and opportunities that entail additional spending; self-identification in different spheres of life. This set of indicators allowed to describe positions of social groups and their regional differentiation: social groups that make up the regional population, their positions in the stratification system, their quantitative and qualitative characteristics were identified. The authors also identified the most vulnerable groups affected by social tensions and showed that the growth of social inequality can lead to an increase in the protest and destructive behavior.

TİPİK DAVRANIŞ POZULMALARI VƏ ONLARIN YARANMA SƏBƏBLƏRİ

The article analyzes typical behavioral disorders - this is hyperactive behavior (due mainly to the neurodynamic characteristics of the child), as well as demonstrative, protest, aggressive, infantile, conformal and symptomatic behavior (in the occurrence of which the determining factors are the conditions of learning and development, the style of relationships with adults, characteristics family education). The author examines the causes of behavior deviations. Key words: behavior, deviance, personality defects, hyperactive behavior. Demonstrative behavior Protestant behavior Aggressive behavior Infantile behavior Conformal behavior Symptomatic behavior

Active vs. Passive Social Media Engagement with Critical Information: Protest Behavior in Two Asian Countries

Passive online media use refers to the act of merely reading and observing political information on a users’ feed. Alternatively, active use refers to the conscious decision to share information, comment, challenge, fact check, or engage in related activity. We argue that these types of social media use have fundamentally different relationships to offline political participation. We use original survey data from Malaysia and the Philippines to test two propositions: (1) active political use, such as online protest or resistance, substitutes for offline protest and (2) passive users who encounter critical information and do not engage in active use will participate in offline protest. Our results confirm these expectations.

DYNAMICS OF STUDENT PROTEST MOODS IN THE REGIONAL CONTEXT: AT THE EXAMPLE OF PRIMORSKY REGION

The article presents the results of sociological research conducted in 2017 and 2020 years at the Primorsky region. The purpose of the repeated study was to identify the dynamics of student protest moods, taking into account regional specifics. The choice of the object of research is due to the significant importance of young qualified specialists for the development of the far East and Transbaikalia, whose training is carried Out in universities of the far Eastern Federal district (DFO). Primorsky region occupies a leading position in the economy and political system of the Federal district and Vladivostok city being the capital of the region is the capital of the district too. According secondary sources, was found that the number of open protests at this region were significantly fewer compared to 2017, but the protest potential of the population is still high. A comparative analysis of the data of two surveys showed a significant increase in the number of young people, including students, who are dissatisfied by the state’s policy and have negative emotions about it. Over the past three years, the protest potential of the students has grown: the number of young people, who support rallies and demonstrations against state policy, increased, the number of the respondents, who find it difficult to assess their own level of readiness for protest activity, decreased. A group of actors of protest behavior in relation to problems at law enforcement agencies, security and politics has grown. Respondents prefer the following forms of protest activity: thematic concerts, exhibitions, performances, installations, flash mobs; signing of collective protest appeals, petitions; permitted protest actions; peaceful change of government. The complex and ambiguous dynamics of protest moods and protest potential of students in Primorsky region should be taken into account by educational organizations and management bodies of various levels in order to navigate the situation, predict its development, and make informed management decision.

ОНЛАЙН-ПЕТИЦИИ КАК АКТУАЛЬНАЯ ПРАКТИКА ПРОТЕСТНОЙ КОММУНИКАЦИИ (В КОНТЕКСТЕ ПОСТУЛАТОВ ГАРВАРДСКОЙ ШКОЛЫ КОНФЛИКТОЛОГИИ)

Цель. Статья посвящена характеристике онлайн-петиций как современного формата коммуникации граждан и власти в контексте концепции Гарвардской школы конфликтологии.Метод или методология проведения работы. Методология работы базируется на тезисах о системно-коммуникативной автономии протеста; взаимосвязи технологических и социокультурных изменений, интерпретации конфликта как конструктивной силы; релевантности для оценки удовлетворительности коммуникации сторон параметров «принципиальных переговоров» Р. Фишера и У. Юрии.Результаты. Определены черты разных стратегий разрешения конфликта, признаки неудовлетворительности коммуникации, особенности реализации гарвардских постулатов, «дефекты» аргументирования в анализируемых протестных практиках.Область применения результатов. Результаты вносят вклад в осмысление протеста как части современного социокультурного пространства, могут найти применение в сфере регулирования конфликтных ситуаций, протестного поведения с целью оптимизации коммуникации сторон.

PR as a tool for the development of nuclear energy in Russia and abroad

The author estimates the impact of PR technologies on the development of nuclear power in Russia and in a number of foreign countries (USA, China, Japan, France). It is determined that as soon as at the stage of development of nuclear generation projects and other nuclear industry facilities, the use of public relations (PR), with a targeted impact on public opinion and interaction with target audiences (TA) at its core, has a significant impact on decision-making in favor of the construction of nuclear power plants, minimizes the protest behavior of the population. It is shown that the advantages of nuclear power among alternative energy sources for strengthening the socio-economic potential of states and increasing their environmental well-being are most clearly, quickly and effectively disclosed through using public relations tools. PR enables to form an adequate and correct understanding of the physical and chemical foundations of nuclear power engineering, the main threats and systems for their minimization or complete elimination at the conceptual, socio-psychological and socio-logical levels, as well as to form, in terms of specific objects and tools, the technological and organizational facilities for the development of nuclear energy projects both in Russia and in foreign countries. The activities of foreign and Russian companies aimed at ensuring loyal public opinion in relation to nuclear projects are critically described and analytically compared. The chronological framework covers the recent period: from the beginning of the 2000s to 2020. This period is noted as the most significant for the development of nuclear power in the world. Statistical data on changes in the attitude of the public in different countries to the prospects for the development of nuclear energy after the Chernobyl and Fukushima-1 disasters are presented. It is concluded that it is PR in its integrated application that contributes to government decision-making and public support in the construction of nuclear power plants in Russia and abroad.

“Save the climate! Stop the oil”: Actual protest behavior and core framing tasks in the Portuguese climate movement

In this article, we focus on two demonstrations against climate change that took place in Portugal on the 12th of November 2016 and the 29th of April 2017. Two separate studies were conducted on the same protests. In Study 1, we conducted a quantitative study (N = 259), to examine the role of socio-demographics and socio-psychological predictors in predicting the actual protest. Participants were demonstrators (N = 158), as well as non-demonstrators (N = 101). Results indicated that moral motivation and identification as an environmentalist were the key variables in explaining actual protest. In Study 2, we conducted a framing analysis of the written manifestos (N = 2), to identify the core framing tasks which were used to inspire and legitimize the protests. The framing analysis suggests that the problems and paths for action were described by appealing to the interlinkage between the global and local dimensions of climate change, and that arguments of severity and urgency of the problem were the most salient. The implications of this research are discussed in relation to possible pathways for a more comprehensive understanding of the reasons why people engage in collective action in climate change related issues, and how these motives may relate to how social movements mobilize people for action.