Abstract:

As the representation of social contradictions, collective action in China typically involves mass incidents, which refer to the conflicts between certain civilians and local administration. A group member engages in collective action any time that he or she acts as a representative of a group and when the action is directed at improving the conditions for the entire group. This research focused on the motivation mechanism underlying collective action in different intergroup threat (i.e., realistic threat and identity threat) by using a survey (study 1) and an experiment (study 2). The main purpose of study 1 was to investigate the mediated effects of group efficacy (one pathway) and group-based anger (another pathway) on the relation between intergroup treat and collective action intention. Moreover, study 2 explored the moderated effect of group identity in the dual-pathway model. The results indicated that: First, both group efficacy and group-based anger were mediators of the relation between intergroup threat (realistic threat and identity threat) and collective action intention. Specifically, group efficacy mediated the relation between realistic threat and collective action intention; group efficacy also mediated the relation between identity threat and collective action intention; group-based anger mediated the relation between realistic threat and collective action intention; group-based anger also mediated the relation between identity threat and collective action intention. Moreover, the mediating effect of group efficacy on realistic threat-collective action intention relation was stronger than that on identity threat-collective action intention association; whereas the mediating effect of group-based anger on identity threat-collective action intention relation was stronger than that on realistic threat-collective action intention association. Second, group identity moderated the relation between intergroup threat and collective action intention. Specifically, group identity moderated the relation between realistic threat and collective action intention; whereas group identity moderated the relation between identity threat and collective action intention. In addition, group identity was a mediated moderator that group efficacy and group-based anger mediated the relation between the group identity- intergroup threat interaction and collective action intention. An important theoretical implication of this research is that it connects the dual-pathway model of collective action with the different types of intergroup threat at distinct levels of group identity. Furthermore, the current study provides a useful analytical paradigm for mediated moderating effects. Regarding the practical implications, this research examines the social psychological motivation mechanism underlying collective action in China to inform administrators and policy makers on how to monitor and reduce mass incidents in public administration.

Key words: realistic threat, identity threat, group efficacy, group-based anger, group identity