Emotions in everyday life during social movements: Prospective predictions of mental health.

Abstract

Emotion mobilizes and demobilizes a social movement while the movement itself impacts people's emotions. An evidence base is needed for developing timely emotion-focused counseling services for affected populations worldwide. This experience sampling study investigated the impact of a social movement on everyday emotional reactivity, variability, instability, and persistence, and whether and how these predicted subsequent psychological distress and well-being among 108 community-dwelling adults. Fifty-four participants reported momentary events and emotions 5 times daily over 7 days during the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong. An age-matched, sex-matched comparison group (n = 54) participated during a period without major social/political movement. Psychological distress and well-being were assessed at baseline (Time 1 [T1]) and 3-month follow-up (Time 2 [T2]). Hierarchical linear modeling revealed lower valence ratings of positive events during the Umbrella Movement. Lower positive emotional reactivity and higher negative emotional reactivity in positive events were reported during the movement. Controlling for demographics and T1 scores, the positive association between negative emotional reactivity in positive events and T2 depressive symptoms, and the inverse association between positive emotional instability and T2 positive emotions, were significant only among the comparison group. The positive association between positive emotions in positive events and T2 life satisfaction was significant only among the Umbrella Movement group. People could experience significant changes in their emotions in everyday life during a social movement, even if it is short and relatively nonviolent like the Umbrella Movement. Maximizing positive emotions in positive events during a social movement can uniquely contribute to higher subsequent psychological well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record

Mental health during and after protests, riots and revolutions: A systematic review

“…Prevalence. Four studies assessed the prevalence of anxiety after a collective action in the general population (Hou and Bonanno, 2018;Hou et al, 2015;Lau et al, 2016Lau et al, , 2017 and seven in special groups (Bamrah et al, 2013;Dhavale et al, 2002;Garbarino et al, 2012;Lazarescu et al, 1993;Lyons, 1971;Matthies-Boon, 2017;Moussa et al, 2015). Two studies in the general population followed the 2014 Hong Kong Occupy Central/Umbrella Movement, although different anxiety scales were used.…”

Vicarious trauma, social media and recovery in Hong Kong

“…undergraduate students are often between 18 and 23 years); limited access to social and familial support networks as well as difficulties accessing relevant information in a foreign language and a potentially unfamiliar cultural context. Protective factors known to promote mental health in times of unrest include maintaining everyday routines and work practices (Hou et al, 2018). However, in the case of Hong Kong and specifically PolyU it is the loss of routine and access to work and study sites that exacerbated the stress and anxiety described by some research participants.…”

Politically Motivated Internet Addiction: Relationships among Online Information Exposure, Internet Addiction, FOMO, Psychological Well-being, and Radicalism in Massive Political Turbulence

“…Examples can be found in major massive protests in the Arab Spring [23]. In Hong Kong, the Umbrella Movement in 2014 was also found to be motivated by unusual grievances and it had a continuous psychological impact on the population across the movement [24,25]. During a massive protest, the context itself can motivate people to have stronger tendency to be exposed to movement-related information.…”