April 7, 2025 • 22 mins
Unraveling Fan Psychology in Social Movements: Insights from the Hands-Off Protest
In this episode of PsyberSpace, host Leslie Poston explores the intersection of fan behavior and social movements, using her early research and the recent Hands-Off protest as case studies. Poston digs into the mechanisms behind successful progressive movements, highlighting the power of collective identity, symbolism, and anti-fandom in mobilizing people. Drawing comparisons with the Women's March, she explains why some movements fail to sustain momentum and offers insights into how progressive organizers can harness the principles of fan psychology to create lasting social change. Additionally, Poston shares updates on her current research on algorithmic suppression and discusses the importance of amplifying marginalized voices in academia.
00:00 Introduction to PsyberSpace
00:23 Exploring Fan Behavior and Social Movements
01:52 Terminology and Concepts in Fandom
03:01 Case Study: Women's March and Hands-Off Protest
04:58 The Power of Symbols in Movements
07:57 Fan Psychology and Movement Building
10:00 Recent Research and Insights
13:32 Digital Organizing and Future Strategies
19:39 Conclusion and Future Directions
20:58 Show Updates and Listener Engagement
★ Support this podcast ★Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Leslie Poston (00:11):
Welcome to PsyberSpace. I'm your host,
Leslie Posten. And today we'rediving into something that
bridges my early research workwith our ongoing exploration of
digital psychology. We're goingto talk about fan behavior,
social movements, and howunderstanding one might be the
key to making the other moreeffective. Well, my research
(00:32):
interests have since moved on inmy doctoral work.
My early research explored thisand I want to share those
highlights with you today,especially in light of the
extraordinary hands off protestwe just witnessed this past
weekend. Is a successfulrestorative justice movement
driven by fan behavior? Thisquestion became the foundation
(00:52):
of my early research. Thinkabout it. Regressive movements
like MAGA or anti vaccinationgroups develop passionate
sustained followings that stickaround long after the initial
event that sparked them.
They create what we'd recognizeas fandoms communities with
shared symbols, language, andidentity. These regressive
(01:14):
groups take these fan fueledmovements to the point of cult
status. Meanwhile, progressivemovements often struggle to
maintain momentum. They mightgenerate huge initial enthusiasm
like the Women's March in 2017,which was the largest single day
protest in US history at thattime. But that energy frequently
(01:36):
dissipates rather thantransforms into lasting change.
So what can progressivemovements learn from fan
psychology? That's what we'reunpacking today, especially in
light of the remarkable momentumof the hands off protest we just
witnessed this past weekend.First, let's establish some
terminology that frames thisdiscussion. When I talk about
(01:58):
fandom, I'm referring to thecommunities that form around
shared interests that arecharacterized by collective
enthusiasm, devotion, andidentity. Think about sports
fans who wear their team colors,follow the statistics, and feel
extreme emotional investment inthe outcomes.
I might also use the term activepublics. This was coined by
(02:21):
researcher Hallihan and itdescribes groups that actively
seek and process informationabout a cause or an issue rather
than just passively receivingit. Anti fandom is another
interesting concept. That'sgroups that form their identity
through rejection of somethinglike anti fans of the TV show
(02:42):
Seinfeld who hate it and spendjust as much time discussing
that as actual fans who watchthe show. And all of this
connects to media psychology howmedia affects human behavior,
thoughts and feelings in anincreasingly digital world.
To explore these ideas for thatearly research, I originally
(03:02):
used the Woman's March movementas my primary case study. But
before we get into that, let'stalk about what just happened
this weekend. The hands offprotests that took place across
America on 04/05/2025 drew anastounding 5,500,000
participants in The US aloneaccording to the organizing
(03:23):
group Indivisible. What'sinteresting about this more
recent protest is the way thismovement united people across
the political spectrum in whatwe're calling an anti fandom
collective opposition to DonaldTrump and Elon Musk's perceived
and real threats to democracy.This remarkable coalition
(03:43):
building stands in starkcontrast to the earlier women's
marches which, while historic,faced significant challenges in
maintaining momentum andcohesion.
The first women's march happenedin 2017 a direct reaction to
Donald Trump's inauguration. Itstarted with an impulsive idea
(04:03):
from a woman in Hawaii onelection night and somehow
became the largest day ofprotest in U. S. History at that
time. Despite this overwhelmingsupport, the movement faced
controversy and infightinglargely centered on an apparent
lack of intersectionality andinclusion as well as
disagreement about symbols likethe pink hats with cat ears worn
(04:25):
largely by white women new toprotesting.
This was a move that came acrossto many as performative setting
the wearers apart from theexisting movement builders. The
second major nationwide women'smarch happened in 2021 in
reaction to Texas enactingrestrictive reproductive
healthcare legislation. Thoughwell attended, it was not nearly
(04:47):
as large as the earlier twentyseventeen march. The contrast
between these earlier events andthe recent hands off protest
reveals important lessons aboutmovement building. Thinking
about lessons about movementbuilding brings us to the power
of symbols in movement building.
One interesting aspect of boththe Women's March and the hands
(05:08):
off protest was the way symbolsemerged in either united or
divided participants. The HandsOff Protest created powerful
symbolism through its namerepresenting both resistance to
authoritarianism and unity indefending democracy as well as
its big tent messaging thatallowed people room to express
(05:29):
their particular reason forparticipating. With an
administration that is attackingits own constituents' rights and
eroding its own governmentfunctionality on multiple
fronts, this simple, inclusiveumbrella message was a must. A
single issue protest would nothave worked in this moment in
time. The universally accessibleprotests, happening in over
(05:52):
1,300 cities in The US as wellas in cities abroad also
effectively united diversegroups across the political
spectrum under a shared identityas defenders of democracy.
Democracy as a concept is muchmore inclusive than political
party affiliation and was somuch under attack from Trump and
Musk, there was room for everycause to fit under this one
(06:15):
umbrella idea of freedom fromtyrannical rule. In contrast,
the pink cat ear knitted hatswhich came to be known
derogatively as pussy hatsbecame the defining visual of
the twenty seventeen Women'sMarch easy to spot, simple to
understand, visually unifyingand memorable. They also gave
(06:36):
people who couldn't attend a wayto participate by making hats
for the marchers. However, theywere only visually unifying to
one certain subset of protesterswho had likely never protested
before in many cases, and that'swhite women. Following these
protests, the hats became asymbol of how progressive
(06:57):
movements can often nitpickthemselves out of momentum.
For example, critics of theWoman's March argued that they
represented biologicalessentialism, excluded trans
women and non binary folk, andthat the hats were performative
or unserious and more if youwere online at the time, you
know that discourse wasplentiful. The Women's March
(07:19):
leadership didn't navigate thistension well. There was no
defining countermessage thatthere might be room for both the
hats and more inclusive symbolsthat could lead to a teachable
moment or expand the movement.And this was a missed
opportunity. Had the hatsremained while inclusive
alternatives were alsointroduced and embraced, they
(07:40):
would have provided a visualcounter identity to the MAGA red
hats that were introduced at thesame time, and every time the
groups encountered each other,symbol versus symbol, it would
have helped educate theuneducated or the politically
averse public to begin toquantify the stakes.
What the hands off protestdemonstrated brilliantly was the
(08:00):
power of anti fandom as aunifying force. Anti fandom, a
collective opposition to afigure, ideology, or idea, can
sometimes create stronger bondsthan a fandom because it allows
diverse groups to unite despiteother differences. MAGA thrives
on being a unified,unquestioning fandom in the face
of anti fandom like this, itfalters. The protests succeeded
(08:24):
in bringing together people fromacross the political spectrum
who shared concerns aboutthreats to democratic
institutions. This illustratesan important nuance to my
research (08:34):
sometimes movements can leverage opposition as
effectively as affirmation.
The hands off protests created acollective identity around what
participants stood againstrather than only what they stood
for This is more resonant thanthe Democrats' usual posturing
against a single evil boogeymanlike Trump. As the past three
(08:57):
months in The United States haveshown, the damage a well
orchestrated plan like Projecttwenty twenty five can do to
democracy is magnified withsomeone like a malignant P. T.
Barnum at the wheel. But it'sstill a well orchestrated plan
that multiple people areenacting.
Regressive movements like MAGAhave long understood how to
(09:19):
create symbols of solidarity andparticipation opportunities.
They excel at centeringparticipants in the story being
told by the movement. They meetsupporters' need for community,
bolster their sense of self inrelation to a larger group, and
provide organization.Progressive movements can
leverage these same principles,as we saw with the hands off
(09:40):
protest. The concept of enduringempowerment gives participants a
way to see the impact their rolein collective action has on the
overall movement.
This builds emotional resonancewith the cause, moving
participants from a state ofdespair to a state of
empowerment. And this is wherewe need to be to build the
better future. In the yearssince I completed my thesis,
(10:03):
fascinating new research hasemerged on the psychology of
movement building that add depthto my understanding of both the
Women's March and the Hands Offprotests. Research on identity
fusion represents a visceralsense of oneness with a group
that goes beyond mereidentification. Gomez and
colleagues found that thisfusion serves as a powerful
(10:26):
predictor of extreme probrutebehaviors and self sacrifice.
This might explain why theWomen's March struggled with
sustainability between itsreactive protest moments.
Without sufficient identityfusion, participants weren't
bound tightly enough to themovement to withstand internal
critique. Chinjie and colleaguesdemonstrated that strongly fused
(10:48):
individuals feel a visceralresponsibility towards their
group, motivating selfsacrificial actions. The
research also shows that sharedemotional experiences such as
flashbulb memories ofsignificant events like Trump's
election or inauguration canlead to deeper identity fusion.
Another advancement comes fromresearch on moral emotions and
(11:11):
collective action.
Landman and Roman discoveredthat while negative emotions
like anger and indignation canrapidly mobilize people for
protest, positive emotions likefeeling moved are also powerful
motivators for collectiveaction. This dynamic was visible
in how the hands off protestmanaged to transform initial
(11:32):
outrage into a sense ofsolidarity and collective
empowerment. Ioannian andcolleagues found that in
repressive contexts, protestersare primarily motivated by
outrage, movementidentification, or moral
obligation rather than politicalefficacy. Sylvaneth Vanathen and
Jettin emphasized that theexperience of participating in
(11:54):
collective action itself canfoster continued commitment
while movement leaders play avital role in uniting
participants and mobilizingbroader societal support. Recent
studies on transversalsolidarity and coalition
building across identitydifferences are particularly
relevant to this discussion.
Densera examines how movementsnavigate fragmentation and
(12:17):
exclusionary identity politics,while Stefan Dick and colleagues
analyzed how intersectionalpolitical solidarity can be
created and maintained. Goertzemphasizes the importance of
negotiating differences andleveraging uneven privileges in
coalition building. Thesestudies suggest that successful
(12:37):
movements need three criticalcomponents to maintain cohesion:
explicit naming and addressingof power differentials within
the movement, creating spacesfor intramovement dialogue about
tensions, and emphasizing sharedvulnerability to common threats.
The hands off protest excelledparticularly in that third
component. Research on ritualparticipation and movement
(13:02):
activities by Goffind andcolleagues and Parkinson reveals
that synchronized behaviors incollective gatherings can
trigger neural synchrony amongparticipants something that
regressive and religiousmovements tend to capitalize on.
Think unifying hymns or groupchants at a protest, for
example. Zumida and colleaguesfound that participation in
(13:23):
collective rituals enhancesperceived emotional synchrony,
social integration, and personalwell-being as well. Finally, I'm
fascinated by recent work onnetworked individualism and
social movements. Tyndall andcolleagues highlighted the
importance of personal networksin shaping movement
participation. Wong andcolleagues demonstrate how
(13:46):
social media plays a vital rolein enabling connective action
and facilitating the transitionto more organized forms of
collective action.
Fleisher examines how autonomousnetwork logics can sustain
strong movements withouttraditional organizational
structures, emphasizing theimportance of shared political
culture and a collectiveidentity, which explains why
(14:08):
imposing a single symbolicidentity like the pink hats can
backfire while offering multipleentry points for identity
expression like at the hands offprotest strengthens overall
cohesion. The hands off protestdemonstrated effective digital
organizing that helped themachieve unprecedented turnout.
(14:29):
Organizers leveraged socialmedia not just for awareness but
for active coordination as wellas utilizing consistent local in
person group meetings, an emaillist and virtual Zoom calls.
They also developed clearmessaging that could be
reproduced and shared easilyacross platforms, creating a
digital ecosystem that supportedreal world action. What was
(14:51):
particularly notable was how thehands off protests used digital
platform livestreams and photosharing to create a sense of
nationwide community.
Participants could see in realtime that they were part of
something much larger than theirlocal gathering, which
reinforced their sense ofcollective power. This
highlights an area whereprogressive movements often need
to improve (15:13):
digital sustainability beyond the event
itself. Posting disappearingInstagram stories just the day
of the protest is useful but notnecessarily sticky enough to
last and grow. Excellent socialmedia tools movement building
include a short video onplatforms with finely tuned
algorithms that don't requireads for leverage like TikTok, as
(15:35):
well as community building onprivate social platforms like
Discord in addition to real lifeorganizing. Another necessity is
a list of actionable goals.
The Women's March faced hurdlescentered on not including
marginalized groups in the goalsetting for the organization.
Having clear actionable goalsgives participants a measurable
(15:56):
way to see how they'recontributing which reinforces
their sense of belonging andpurpose. Regressive movements
excel at conveying simplisticideas within strong emotional
stories, usually based in fearor anger. Fear is an especially
strong emotion for drivingbehavior. They use storytelling
(16:16):
that centers the listener, apowerful way to turn a simple
supporter into a true fan.
Progressive movement leaderscould learn from this and
include more emotionalstorytelling to convey their
message to a wider audience.Creating emotionally resonant
stories for participants canhelp enhance the necessary us
versus them mentality that oftenspurs participants into taking
(16:38):
action on behalf of a group.While creating these larger
narratives, progressive movementorganizers must also become
adept at creating stories forsmaller, disparate groups within
the larger group. The hands offprotests benefited from this
moment in time where every newsstory has a deep personal impact
on every U. S.
Citizen, making it easier forpeople to see themselves in the
(17:01):
story of saving democracy and toparticipate. The hands off
protests provide a blueprint forfuture progressive organizing.
Their success came from creatinga broad coalition around a
shared concern while allowingspace for different motivation
and identities within thatcoalition. They focused on a
(17:21):
clear emotionally resonantthreat that transcended
political difference. A futurewell organized progressive
movement would follow thisexample while also ensuring a
truly representative leadershipstructure: a collective at the
top comprised of people thatrepresent all marginalized
groups.
Because white people andable-bodied people have the
(17:42):
greatest majority representationin society, priority would be
given to the needs and goals ofother marginalized groups during
planning because what benefitsthem benefits all of us. It's
not pie. There's enough to goaround. The hands off protest
showed that when the stakes areclearly communicated and the
(18:03):
message is inclusive, movementscan overcome the infighting that
plagued earlier efforts like theWomen's March. The challenge
going forward will be to turnpotential infighting from a
destructive force thateliminates any chance of a
unifying symbol's creation to acreative force that allows
participants to be the socialactors within their group and
(18:24):
improve upon the symbolstogether.
The extraordinary success of theHands Off protest this past
weekend validates the coreargument of my early research:
understanding fan psychology andits counterpart, anti fandom, is
an important piece of the puzzlefor building effective movements
for social change. With5,500,000 Americans
(18:44):
participating, these protestsdemonstrated that when movements
effectively leverage collectiveidentity, clear symbolism, and
shared opposition to perceivedthreats, they can achieve
remarkable mobilization acrosstraditional divides. There may
be a tendency to see utilizingfan psychology as trivializing a
push for serious societalchange, but a better way to
(19:07):
frame it may be that organizersare simply using the quirks of
the human brain to the advantageof restorative justice in a
progressive and inclusivesociety. Progressive movements
push forward ideas and changesthat can be difficult to
embrace. Building both fan basesand anti fan coalitions that
will carry your movement forwardis one of the best ways to
(19:27):
ensure a sustainable,purposeful, successful
progressive movement.
The work isn't just about beingright it's about building a
community powerful enough tocreate lasting change. So why
did I change my research focuswhen I moved into my doctoral
program? Well, that's prettysimple. One of the findings of
my research that I wrote in mythesis was that more white
(19:51):
voices were not necessarilyneeded in this research area,
and that we should amplify themarginalized voices that are not
just doing the hard research,but living the hard research. In
my thesis presentation, I dohighlight some researchers that
I think that everyone should payattention to.
(20:12):
So I will also try and bringthem into the show notes for
this episode as well, because wewant to highlight all research.
As to what I'm studying, now I'mstudying another pressing
problem of our time, and that'salgorithmic suppression and the
psychology behind that, and howwe move through it and around it
to survive and thrive. And I'mvery excited about that, and
(20:34):
hopefully I'll be publishing onthat later this year. And why
did I do this episode today? Iactually scrapped an existing
episode, moved it to later thismonth because of the
effectiveness of the hands onprotest this weekend, and the
way it reminded me of my earlierresearch years ago.
And I just wanted to talk aboutit and get a discussion going
(20:56):
about it. And that's all forthis episode of PsyberSpace. I'd
love to hear your thoughts onmovement building. Send me your
stories through our website orour social channels, through our
Patreon. If you have aresearcher that you think I
should know about that's doinggreat work in this space, that
deserves to be amplified, let meknow.
It's getting to the point in thepodcast where we're going to
(21:19):
start having guestsperiodically. This is never
going to be a multi host show,but there's so much great
research out there, and I wantto make sure your voices are
getting heard. We also have somenews this week. The Webby Awards
nominations were announced lastweek, and our show was an
honoree, which means in thepodcast show category of science
(21:40):
and education, we were one ofthree honorees. Other honorees
were Google's DeepMind podcastand Amazon's This is Small
Business podcast, so I feel thatI'm in great company, and I'm so
excited that people are enjoyingthe show.
If you have a request for afuture episode, let me know what
it is. I would love to hear itand talk about the research
(22:01):
around the topic with you. Thisis your host, Posten, signing
off and reminding you that inthe space between psychology and
technology, we find the mosthuman stories of all. Until next
time, stay curious!
Welcome to PsyberSpace. I'm your host,
Leslie Posten. And today we'rediving into something that
bridges my early research workwith our ongoing exploration of
digital psychology. We're goingto talk about fan behavior,
social movements, and howunderstanding one might be the
key to making the other moreeffective. Well, my research
(00:32):
interests have since moved on inmy doctoral work.
My early research explored thisand I want to share those
highlights with you today,especially in light of the
extraordinary hands off protestwe just witnessed this past
weekend. Is a successfulrestorative justice movement
driven by fan behavior? Thisquestion became the foundation
(00:52):
of my early research. Thinkabout it. Regressive movements
like MAGA or anti vaccinationgroups develop passionate
sustained followings that stickaround long after the initial
event that sparked them.
They create what we'd recognizeas fandoms communities with
shared symbols, language, andidentity. These regressive
(01:14):
groups take these fan fueledmovements to the point of cult
status. Meanwhile, progressivemovements often struggle to
maintain momentum. They mightgenerate huge initial enthusiasm
like the Women's March in 2017,which was the largest single day
protest in US history at thattime. But that energy frequently
(01:36):
dissipates rather thantransforms into lasting change.
So what can progressivemovements learn from fan
psychology? That's what we'reunpacking today, especially in
light of the remarkable momentumof the hands off protest we just
witnessed this past weekend.First, let's establish some
terminology that frames thisdiscussion. When I talk about
(01:58):
fandom, I'm referring to thecommunities that form around
shared interests that arecharacterized by collective
enthusiasm, devotion, andidentity. Think about sports
fans who wear their team colors,follow the statistics, and feel
extreme emotional investment inthe outcomes.
I might also use the term activepublics. This was coined by
(02:21):
researcher Hallihan and itdescribes groups that actively
seek and process informationabout a cause or an issue rather
than just passively receivingit. Anti fandom is another
interesting concept. That'sgroups that form their identity
through rejection of somethinglike anti fans of the TV show
(02:42):
Seinfeld who hate it and spendjust as much time discussing
that as actual fans who watchthe show. And all of this
connects to media psychology howmedia affects human behavior,
thoughts and feelings in anincreasingly digital world.
To explore these ideas for thatearly research, I originally
(03:02):
used the Woman's March movementas my primary case study. But
before we get into that, let'stalk about what just happened
this weekend. The hands offprotests that took place across
America on 04/05/2025 drew anastounding 5,500,000
participants in The US aloneaccording to the organizing
(03:23):
group Indivisible. What'sinteresting about this more
recent protest is the way thismovement united people across
the political spectrum in whatwe're calling an anti fandom
collective opposition to DonaldTrump and Elon Musk's perceived
and real threats to democracy.This remarkable coalition
(03:43):
building stands in starkcontrast to the earlier women's
marches which, while historic,faced significant challenges in
maintaining momentum andcohesion.
The first women's march happenedin 2017 a direct reaction to
Donald Trump's inauguration. Itstarted with an impulsive idea
(04:03):
from a woman in Hawaii onelection night and somehow
became the largest day ofprotest in U. S. History at that
time. Despite this overwhelmingsupport, the movement faced
controversy and infightinglargely centered on an apparent
lack of intersectionality andinclusion as well as
disagreement about symbols likethe pink hats with cat ears worn
(04:25):
largely by white women new toprotesting.
This was a move that came acrossto many as performative setting
the wearers apart from theexisting movement builders. The
second major nationwide women'smarch happened in 2021 in
reaction to Texas enactingrestrictive reproductive
healthcare legislation. Thoughwell attended, it was not nearly
(04:47):
as large as the earlier twentyseventeen march. The contrast
between these earlier events andthe recent hands off protest
reveals important lessons aboutmovement building. Thinking
about lessons about movementbuilding brings us to the power
of symbols in movement building.
One interesting aspect of boththe Women's March and the hands
(05:08):
off protest was the way symbolsemerged in either united or
divided participants. The HandsOff Protest created powerful
symbolism through its namerepresenting both resistance to
authoritarianism and unity indefending democracy as well as
its big tent messaging thatallowed people room to express
(05:29):
their particular reason forparticipating. With an
administration that is attackingits own constituents' rights and
eroding its own governmentfunctionality on multiple
fronts, this simple, inclusiveumbrella message was a must. A
single issue protest would nothave worked in this moment in
time. The universally accessibleprotests, happening in over
(05:52):
1,300 cities in The US as wellas in cities abroad also
effectively united diversegroups across the political
spectrum under a shared identityas defenders of democracy.
Democracy as a concept is muchmore inclusive than political
party affiliation and was somuch under attack from Trump and
Musk, there was room for everycause to fit under this one
(06:15):
umbrella idea of freedom fromtyrannical rule. In contrast,
the pink cat ear knitted hatswhich came to be known
derogatively as pussy hatsbecame the defining visual of
the twenty seventeen Women'sMarch easy to spot, simple to
understand, visually unifyingand memorable. They also gave
(06:36):
people who couldn't attend a wayto participate by making hats
for the marchers. However, theywere only visually unifying to
one certain subset of protesterswho had likely never protested
before in many cases, and that'swhite women. Following these
protests, the hats became asymbol of how progressive
(06:57):
movements can often nitpickthemselves out of momentum.
For example, critics of theWoman's March argued that they
represented biologicalessentialism, excluded trans
women and non binary folk, andthat the hats were performative
or unserious and more if youwere online at the time, you
know that discourse wasplentiful. The Women's March
(07:19):
leadership didn't navigate thistension well. There was no
defining countermessage thatthere might be room for both the
hats and more inclusive symbolsthat could lead to a teachable
moment or expand the movement.And this was a missed
opportunity. Had the hatsremained while inclusive
alternatives were alsointroduced and embraced, they
(07:40):
would have provided a visualcounter identity to the MAGA red
hats that were introduced at thesame time, and every time the
groups encountered each other,symbol versus symbol, it would
have helped educate theuneducated or the politically
averse public to begin toquantify the stakes.
What the hands off protestdemonstrated brilliantly was the
(08:00):
power of anti fandom as aunifying force. Anti fandom, a
collective opposition to afigure, ideology, or idea, can
sometimes create stronger bondsthan a fandom because it allows
diverse groups to unite despiteother differences. MAGA thrives
on being a unified,unquestioning fandom in the face
of anti fandom like this, itfalters. The protests succeeded
(08:24):
in bringing together people fromacross the political spectrum
who shared concerns aboutthreats to democratic
institutions. This illustratesan important nuance to my
research (08:34):
sometimes movements can leverage opposition as
effectively as affirmation.
The hands off protests created acollective identity around what
participants stood againstrather than only what they stood
for This is more resonant thanthe Democrats' usual posturing
against a single evil boogeymanlike Trump. As the past three
(08:57):
months in The United States haveshown, the damage a well
orchestrated plan like Projecttwenty twenty five can do to
democracy is magnified withsomeone like a malignant P. T.
Barnum at the wheel. But it'sstill a well orchestrated plan
that multiple people areenacting.
Regressive movements like MAGAhave long understood how to
(09:19):
create symbols of solidarity andparticipation opportunities.
They excel at centeringparticipants in the story being
told by the movement. They meetsupporters' need for community,
bolster their sense of self inrelation to a larger group, and
provide organization.Progressive movements can
leverage these same principles,as we saw with the hands off
(09:40):
protest. The concept of enduringempowerment gives participants a
way to see the impact their rolein collective action has on the
overall movement.
This builds emotional resonancewith the cause, moving
participants from a state ofdespair to a state of
empowerment. And this is wherewe need to be to build the
better future. In the yearssince I completed my thesis,
(10:03):
fascinating new research hasemerged on the psychology of
movement building that add depthto my understanding of both the
Women's March and the Hands Offprotests. Research on identity
fusion represents a visceralsense of oneness with a group
that goes beyond mereidentification. Gomez and
colleagues found that thisfusion serves as a powerful
(10:26):
predictor of extreme probrutebehaviors and self sacrifice.
This might explain why theWomen's March struggled with
sustainability between itsreactive protest moments.
Without sufficient identityfusion, participants weren't
bound tightly enough to themovement to withstand internal
critique. Chinjie and colleaguesdemonstrated that strongly fused
(10:48):
individuals feel a visceralresponsibility towards their
group, motivating selfsacrificial actions. The
research also shows that sharedemotional experiences such as
flashbulb memories ofsignificant events like Trump's
election or inauguration canlead to deeper identity fusion.
Another advancement comes fromresearch on moral emotions and
(11:11):
collective action.
Landman and Roman discoveredthat while negative emotions
like anger and indignation canrapidly mobilize people for
protest, positive emotions likefeeling moved are also powerful
motivators for collectiveaction. This dynamic was visible
in how the hands off protestmanaged to transform initial
(11:32):
outrage into a sense ofsolidarity and collective
empowerment. Ioannian andcolleagues found that in
repressive contexts, protestersare primarily motivated by
outrage, movementidentification, or moral
obligation rather than politicalefficacy. Sylvaneth Vanathen and
Jettin emphasized that theexperience of participating in
(11:54):
collective action itself canfoster continued commitment
while movement leaders play avital role in uniting
participants and mobilizingbroader societal support. Recent
studies on transversalsolidarity and coalition
building across identitydifferences are particularly
relevant to this discussion.
Densera examines how movementsnavigate fragmentation and
(12:17):
exclusionary identity politics,while Stefan Dick and colleagues
analyzed how intersectionalpolitical solidarity can be
created and maintained. Goertzemphasizes the importance of
negotiating differences andleveraging uneven privileges in
coalition building. Thesestudies suggest that successful
(12:37):
movements need three criticalcomponents to maintain cohesion:
explicit naming and addressingof power differentials within
the movement, creating spacesfor intramovement dialogue about
tensions, and emphasizing sharedvulnerability to common threats.
The hands off protest excelledparticularly in that third
component. Research on ritualparticipation and movement
(13:02):
activities by Goffind andcolleagues and Parkinson reveals
that synchronized behaviors incollective gatherings can
trigger neural synchrony amongparticipants something that
regressive and religiousmovements tend to capitalize on.
Think unifying hymns or groupchants at a protest, for
example. Zumida and colleaguesfound that participation in
(13:23):
collective rituals enhancesperceived emotional synchrony,
social integration, and personalwell-being as well. Finally, I'm
fascinated by recent work onnetworked individualism and
social movements. Tyndall andcolleagues highlighted the
importance of personal networksin shaping movement
participation. Wong andcolleagues demonstrate how
(13:46):
social media plays a vital rolein enabling connective action
and facilitating the transitionto more organized forms of
collective action.
Fleisher examines how autonomousnetwork logics can sustain
strong movements withouttraditional organizational
structures, emphasizing theimportance of shared political
culture and a collectiveidentity, which explains why
(14:08):
imposing a single symbolicidentity like the pink hats can
backfire while offering multipleentry points for identity
expression like at the hands offprotest strengthens overall
cohesion. The hands off protestdemonstrated effective digital
organizing that helped themachieve unprecedented turnout.
(14:29):
Organizers leveraged socialmedia not just for awareness but
for active coordination as wellas utilizing consistent local in
person group meetings, an emaillist and virtual Zoom calls.
They also developed clearmessaging that could be
reproduced and shared easilyacross platforms, creating a
digital ecosystem that supportedreal world action. What was
(14:51):
particularly notable was how thehands off protests used digital
platform livestreams and photosharing to create a sense of
nationwide community.
Participants could see in realtime that they were part of
something much larger than theirlocal gathering, which
reinforced their sense ofcollective power. This
highlights an area whereprogressive movements often need
to improve (15:13):
digital sustainability beyond the event
itself. Posting disappearingInstagram stories just the day
of the protest is useful but notnecessarily sticky enough to
last and grow. Excellent socialmedia tools movement building
include a short video onplatforms with finely tuned
algorithms that don't requireads for leverage like TikTok, as
(15:35):
well as community building onprivate social platforms like
Discord in addition to real lifeorganizing. Another necessity is
a list of actionable goals.
The Women's March faced hurdlescentered on not including
marginalized groups in the goalsetting for the organization.
Having clear actionable goalsgives participants a measurable
(15:56):
way to see how they'recontributing which reinforces
their sense of belonging andpurpose. Regressive movements
excel at conveying simplisticideas within strong emotional
stories, usually based in fearor anger. Fear is an especially
strong emotion for drivingbehavior. They use storytelling
(16:16):
that centers the listener, apowerful way to turn a simple
supporter into a true fan.
Progressive movement leaderscould learn from this and
include more emotionalstorytelling to convey their
message to a wider audience.Creating emotionally resonant
stories for participants canhelp enhance the necessary us
versus them mentality that oftenspurs participants into taking
(16:38):
action on behalf of a group.While creating these larger
narratives, progressive movementorganizers must also become
adept at creating stories forsmaller, disparate groups within
the larger group. The hands offprotests benefited from this
moment in time where every newsstory has a deep personal impact
on every U. S.
Citizen, making it easier forpeople to see themselves in the
(17:01):
story of saving democracy and toparticipate. The hands off
protests provide a blueprint forfuture progressive organizing.
Their success came from creatinga broad coalition around a
shared concern while allowingspace for different motivation
and identities within thatcoalition. They focused on a
(17:21):
clear emotionally resonantthreat that transcended
political difference. A futurewell organized progressive
movement would follow thisexample while also ensuring a
truly representative leadershipstructure: a collective at the
top comprised of people thatrepresent all marginalized
groups.
Because white people andable-bodied people have the
(17:42):
greatest majority representationin society, priority would be
given to the needs and goals ofother marginalized groups during
planning because what benefitsthem benefits all of us. It's
not pie. There's enough to goaround. The hands off protest
showed that when the stakes areclearly communicated and the
(18:03):
message is inclusive, movementscan overcome the infighting that
plagued earlier efforts like theWomen's March. The challenge
going forward will be to turnpotential infighting from a
destructive force thateliminates any chance of a
unifying symbol's creation to acreative force that allows
participants to be the socialactors within their group and
(18:24):
improve upon the symbolstogether.
The extraordinary success of theHands Off protest this past
weekend validates the coreargument of my early research:
understanding fan psychology andits counterpart, anti fandom, is
an important piece of the puzzlefor building effective movements
for social change. With5,500,000 Americans
(18:44):
participating, these protestsdemonstrated that when movements
effectively leverage collectiveidentity, clear symbolism, and
shared opposition to perceivedthreats, they can achieve
remarkable mobilization acrosstraditional divides. There may
be a tendency to see utilizingfan psychology as trivializing a
push for serious societalchange, but a better way to
(19:07):
frame it may be that organizersare simply using the quirks of
the human brain to the advantageof restorative justice in a
progressive and inclusivesociety. Progressive movements
push forward ideas and changesthat can be difficult to
embrace. Building both fan basesand anti fan coalitions that
will carry your movement forwardis one of the best ways to
(19:27):
ensure a sustainable,purposeful, successful
progressive movement.
The work isn't just about beingright it's about building a
community powerful enough tocreate lasting change. So why
did I change my research focuswhen I moved into my doctoral
program? Well, that's prettysimple. One of the findings of
my research that I wrote in mythesis was that more white
(19:51):
voices were not necessarilyneeded in this research area,
and that we should amplify themarginalized voices that are not
just doing the hard research,but living the hard research. In
my thesis presentation, I dohighlight some researchers that
I think that everyone should payattention to.
(20:12):
So I will also try and bringthem into the show notes for
this episode as well, because wewant to highlight all research.
As to what I'm studying, now I'mstudying another pressing
problem of our time, and that'salgorithmic suppression and the
psychology behind that, and howwe move through it and around it
to survive and thrive. And I'mvery excited about that, and
(20:34):
hopefully I'll be publishing onthat later this year. And why
did I do this episode today? Iactually scrapped an existing
episode, moved it to later thismonth because of the
effectiveness of the hands onprotest this weekend, and the
way it reminded me of my earlierresearch years ago.
And I just wanted to talk aboutit and get a discussion going
(20:56):
about it. And that's all forthis episode of PsyberSpace. I'd
love to hear your thoughts onmovement building. Send me your
stories through our website orour social channels, through our
Patreon. If you have aresearcher that you think I
should know about that's doinggreat work in this space, that
deserves to be amplified, let meknow.
It's getting to the point in thepodcast where we're going to
(21:19):
start having guestsperiodically. This is never
going to be a multi host show,but there's so much great
research out there, and I wantto make sure your voices are
getting heard. We also have somenews this week. The Webby Awards
nominations were announced lastweek, and our show was an
honoree, which means in thepodcast show category of science
(21:40):
and education, we were one ofthree honorees. Other honorees
were Google's DeepMind podcastand Amazon's This is Small
Business podcast, so I feel thatI'm in great company, and I'm so
excited that people are enjoyingthe show.
If you have a request for afuture episode, let me know what
it is. I would love to hear itand talk about the research
(22:01):
around the topic with you. Thisis your host, Posten, signing
off and reminding you that inthe space between psychology and
technology, we find the mosthuman stories of all. Until next
time, stay curious!
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