Sustained vs Eroding Community Engagement
Louis WR1*, Terry DJ1 and Fielding KS2
1. School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland,
Australia
2. School of Social Work and Applied Human Sciences, University of Queensland,
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
The potential benefits of sustained community engagement in the political
process are diverse: Conflicts addressed and issues publicly debated in
the short term, but also social capital fostered and civic democracy strengthened
for the future. One critical issue for sustainable community engagement
is whether individuals who become engaged with an issue will maintain
commitment over time. Turnover and attrition from community projects and
groups reduces efficiency and prevents the development of social capital
from long-term relationships. This paper will review existing theories
of sustained commitment from sociology, psychology, and political science,
and argue that the social psychology of group processes and identity can
make a key contribution to the literature. Supporting evidence is drawn
from three studies of passive and active war supporters and opponents
conducted during and after the invasion of Iraq. High engagement with
the political process among war opponents during the war steeply declined
subsequently, providing a natural laboratory to test existing theories
and models of sustainable community engagement. While political and sociological
models of community participation received support in all three studies,
psychological identification with the process emerged as a key variable
in each case. Moreover, a longitudinal study of activists showed, consistent
with social psychological models, that engaging in collective action strengthened
psychological identification over time, which reduced the rate of drop-outs.
Normative conflicts emerged as key causes of burn-outs in the long term,
while efficacy concerns related to conflict framing were the strongest
predictors of quick drop-outs by the less committed. The theoretical and
social implications of the results will be discussed.
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