Multiculturalism can be construed in different ways with different effects on majority members’ attitudes toward immigrant-origin groups. Thinking about why the broad goals of multiculturalism are important for society might reduce feelings of outgroup threat and less prejudicial attitudes. In contrast, thinking about how exactly these goals can be accomplished might evoke feelings of threat that lead to prejudice. The aim of this experimental research conducted in France and the Netherlands was to examine the effect of these two construals of multiculturalism of attitudes toward immigrants and whether these effects depend on perceived cultural distance. The findings show that a focus on why multiculturalism is important for society is more beneficial for attitudes toward immigrant-origin groups for people perceiving relatively high cultural distance. In contrast, a focus on how the goals of multiculturalism can be accomplished has a more detrimental effect on attitudes for people perceiving relatively low cultural distance.

After over 2 months of demonstration, 12 casualties, 3,142 people injured, and more than 5,000 people in custody, the question of why the Yellow Vest (YV) protests turned so violent remains. In line with a significance quest perspective on violent extremism (Kruglanski & Orehek, 2011), the present contribution assessed whether the motivation to restore a sense of control and purpose could explain why French citizens engage in violent YV extremism. We hypothesized that personal loss of significance should predict intentions to display YV violence through increased feelings of anomia. Cross-sectional (Study 1, N = 776, general population) and experimental (Study 2, N = 511, undergraduate students) mediation analyses corroborated this hypothesis, in addition to other known predictors of violent extremism. These results provide a first existential-motivational explanation of YV violence in France and highlight the key role of anomia as a predictor of violent extremism under loss of significance.

Worldwide, it is not uncommon to observe violent police reactions against social movements. These are often rationalized by decision makers as efficient ways to contain violence from protesters. In France for instance, the ongoing Yellow Vests protests have generated an unprecedented number of casualties, injuries, and convictions among protesters. But was this response efficient in diminishing violence stemming from the Yellow Vests? To this day, little is known about the psychological consequences of police violence in the context of protests. Combining insights from Significance Quest Theory and the Social Identity perspective on collective action, we predicted that exposure to police violence could “backfire” and lead to increased radicalization of protesters. A cross-sectional investigation of 523 Yellow Vests yielded evidence for this hypothesis. We found positive direct effects of exposure to police violence on intentions to attend future demonstrations and to self-sacrifice for the Yellow Vests. Moreover, these effects were serially mediated by perceived Loss of Significance and Identification with the Yellow Vests. Paradoxically, these results highlight for the first time the mechanism through which political repression may contribute to the formation of radical politicized identities. Thus, we recommend that decision makers privilege the use of de-escalation techniques in protest policing whenever possible.

Psychological research suggests that politically motivated violence (e.g., terrorism) partially stems from existential motives, and more specifically from individuals’ need to achieve significance in life (Significance Quest Theory [SQT]; Kruglanski et al., 2014). Interestingly, sociological research has established similar findings linking anomia—a syndrome including feelings of meaninglessness, powerlessness, isolation, self-estrangement and normlessness—with violent behavior. In line with SQT, the present contribution aimed to test for the first time if anomia could be linked with political violence. Results from a study conducted in four countries (Brazil, Turkey, Belgium, and France; N = 1,240) supported this hypothesis by revealing a consistent, small-to-medium-sized positive correlation between anomia and intentions to display political violence (r = .21, 95% CI [.14, .28]) among undergraduate samples. This link held across countries, independently of political ideology. These results highlight the theoretical and practical usefulness of considering the role of anomia in explaining violent political behavior.

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Background: Social distancing and mass quarantines were implemented worldwide in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Prior research has shown that such measures bear negative consequences for population mental health and well-being. Conversely, a growing body of evidence suggests that feeling positively identified with a group is associated with physical and mental health benefits. Aims: This study tested whether national identification could promote wellbeing and physical health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: We used survey data conducted among 67 countries ( N = 46,450). Results: Mixed-model analyses revealed that national identity was associated with wellbeing – despite adjustment on social belonging, COVID-19 perceived risk, exposure and ideology. This effect did not extend to physical health. Conclusions: These results suggest that the mere feeling of belonging to a national group may have mental health benefits. We discuss the implications of our findings within the social cure framework and their relevance for population mental health under COVID-19.

Social psychologists have developed influential theoretical models to understand intergroup conflicts, radicalism, and collective action. November 2018 saw the emergence of a new powerful movement in France named the Yellow Vests. Born on social media, the movement has sustained an unprecedented period of intense protests and violent clashes with the police, challenging the French government. As such, this movement offers an ideal context to examine the real‐world relevance of current social‐psychological theorizing. Using a social identity and self‐categorization perspective, two correlational studies (three samples, N = 1,849) tested the role of self‐categorization as a group member, or social identity, in accounting for individual participation in normative and nonnormative collective action. Using different operationalizations of identification, both studies confirm a powerful role of identification as a Yellow Vest and provided evidence that the effect of social media use on collective action is fully mediated by self‐categorization as a Yellow Vest. An alternative model suggesting that social media use mediated the relation between social identity and collective action was not supported by the data.

Police violence during protests occurs worldwide with varying levels ranging from physical abuse to lethal use of force. Although prior research has investigated the health consequences of exposure to police violence (EPV), EPV’s relationship with protesters’ mental health has not yet been examined. Therefore, we designed a cross-sectional study which included measures of self-reported EPV, depression, and post-traumatic stress symptoms. The computerized survey was disseminated among a large sample of Yellow Vests protesters in France ( N = 523; average protest attendance = 18). Overall, 49% of protesters displayed severe symptoms of depression and 15.5% met the criteria for provisory post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnoses. Subsequent analyses revealed, as expected, positive associations between EPV, depression, and post-traumatic stress symptoms in our sample (.30 < d < .63). These were robust to adjustment on several potential confounds (e.g., physical injuries, demographics, political extremism) and similar when analyzing provisory diagnoses rates (1.65 < OR < 3.02). This study is the first to assess potentially detrimental effects of EPV on mental health during protests. Furthermore, prevalence rates for both provisory depression and PTSD diagnoses were comparable with those found among war-refugee populations. We call for further research on EPV among various protester samples and use longitudinal designs to investigate a potent risk factor for mental health issues among civilian populations.