Volume 48, Issue 2 pp. O152-O167
Research Article

What do I gain from joining crowds? Does self-expansion help to explain the relationship between identity fusion, group efficacy and collective action?

Tomasz Besta

Corresponding Author

Tomasz Besta

University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland

Correspondence

Tomasz Besta, Ph.D., Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk, Bażyńskiego 4, 80-952 Gdańsk.

E-mail: [email protected]

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Michał Jaśkiewicz

Michał Jaśkiewicz

University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland

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Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka

Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka

University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland

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Rafał Lawendowski

Rafał Lawendowski

University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland

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Anna Maria Zawadzka

Anna Maria Zawadzka

University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland

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First published: 16 August 2017
Citations: 38

Abstract

Four studies were carried out to examine how identity fusion, self- and group efficacy, and collective action are related and what role self-expansion plays in these relationships. In the pilot study, participants recalled their experience of participating in mass gatherings. The three other studies were conducted during mass gatherings organized for collective purposes: a music concert (Study 1), a bicycle activist event (Study 2), and Equality Days (Study 3). The results showed (a) a significant positive relationship between personal and group identity fusion, self-expansion, and self-efficacy (Study 1); (b) a significant mediating effect of self-expansion on the relationship between personal and group identity fusion and group efficacy (Studies 1 and 2); and (c) a significant mediating effect of self- expansion and group efficacy on the relationship between identity fusion and collective action tendency (Studies 2 and 3).

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