Abstract

This thesis unravels new, decentralized mechanisms for mobilization that challenge the traditional understanding of the ‘group-based psychology of collective action.’ By focusing on the Iranian “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, the study proposes a model that integrates traditional motives for collective action, emotions of different valence, and TikTok audiovisual moral violation stimuli. The proposed model allows for a more complex empirical understanding of the phenomenological experience needed for participation in digital environments. Theoretical assumptions in the current work were guided by the Social Identity Model of Collective Action (SIMCA), the Encapsulated Model of Social Identity for Collective Action (EMSICA), and the theory of Social Identity.

The research uses a between-participants, posttest-only online experiment on a sample of (N=700) individuals conducted during Spring 2024. Results from a parallel mediation analysis revealed that affective injustice, participative efficacy, and politicized identification were all directly and strongly predicted by exposure to moral violation stimuli. The three motives directly and indirectly predicted collective action participation. Further, four mediation analyses revealed that collective action was predicted via a serial mediation between participative efficacy and emotions of hope, affective injustice and politicized identification, affective injustice and participative efficacy, but not via affective injustice and moral outrage. Results from the study generally support theoretical claims about the mobilizing effect of moral violation stimuli during online social movements on TikTok, whereby individuals who encounter harm-based norms are willing to participate in collective action in defense of their moral principles. The study concludes the potential of TikTok as a very promising space in grassroots identity formation and for focusing efforts toward achieving justice.

Keywords: Moral Violation, Emotions, Social Movements, Collective Action, Feminism, TikTok, Audiovisuals, Social Media

School

School of Global Affairs and Public Policy

Department

Journalism & Mass Communication Department

Degree Name

MA in Journalism & Mass Communication

Graduation Date

Spring 6-12-2024

Submission Date

5-27-2024

First Advisor

Shahira S. Fahmy

Committee Member 1

Ahmed Taher

Committee Member 2

Sara Shaban

Extent

127p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Approval has been obtained for this item

Available for download on Wednesday, May 27, 2026

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