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
Recommended Citation
APA Citation
Abbas, L.
(2024).Emotionally Stimulated Activism on TikTok: The Impact of Exposure to Audiovisual Moral Violation on Collective Action in the “Woman, Life, Freedom” Movement [Master's Thesis, the American University in Cairo]. AUC Knowledge Fountain.
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2334
MLA Citation
Abbas, Laila. Emotionally Stimulated Activism on TikTok: The Impact of Exposure to Audiovisual Moral Violation on Collective Action in the “Woman, Life, Freedom” Movement. 2024. American University in Cairo, Master's Thesis. AUC Knowledge Fountain.
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2334