Political Solidarity: A Theory and a Measure
Political solidarity is often key to addressing societal injustice. Yet social and political psychology are without a common definition or comprehensive measure of this construct, complicating advancements in this burgeoning field. To address these gaps, we advance a novel understanding and measure...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology
2019-10-01
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| Series: | Journal of Social and Political Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://jspp.psychopen.eu/article/view/1058 |
| _version_ | 1797969445074763776 |
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| author | Katelin Helene Siemens Neufeld Katherine Beata Starzyk Danielle Gaucher |
| author_facet | Katelin Helene Siemens Neufeld Katherine Beata Starzyk Danielle Gaucher |
| author_sort | Katelin Helene Siemens Neufeld |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Political solidarity is often key to addressing societal injustice. Yet social and political psychology are without a common definition or comprehensive measure of this construct, complicating advancements in this burgeoning field. To address these gaps, we advance a novel understanding and measure of this construct. We conceptualized political solidarity as a construct consisting of three factors—allyship with a minority outgroup, a connection to their cause, and a commitment to working with them to achieve social change—that can emerge within and across social groups. Five studies empirically supported our conceptualization and measure; all participants were Canadian university students. In Study 1, 1,594 participants completed the initial 30-item pool. A series of exploratory factor analyses, along with indices of factor retention, supported the three-factor model. We retained three items per factor to create the 9-item Political Solidarity Measure (PSM). This three-factor model adequately fit Study 2 data (N = 275). In Study 3 (N = 268), we found evidence of the PSM’s convergent and discriminant validity. Studies 3 and 4 assessed the PSM’s retest stability in the medium-term (three to six months; Study 3) and short-term (a three-week period; Study 4; N = 126). Finally, we demonstrate the PSM’s predictive validity in Study 5 (N = 221). Controlling for modern racism, political orientation, and gender, PSM scores predicted collective action intentions and behavior benefitting the outgroup: Participants who reported higher political solidarity donated more to the outgroup’s cause and were more likely to agree to create a message of support. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:01:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f2f214ce9ad74f41b042025eee6d6dba |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2195-3325 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:01:13Z |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Social and Political Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-f2f214ce9ad74f41b042025eee6d6dba2023-01-02T14:04:37ZengPsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for PsychologyJournal of Social and Political Psychology2195-33252019-10-017272676510.5964/jspp.v7i2.1058jspp.v7i2.1058Political Solidarity: A Theory and a MeasureKatelin Helene Siemens Neufeld0Katherine Beata Starzyk1Danielle Gaucher2Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, CanadaPolitical solidarity is often key to addressing societal injustice. Yet social and political psychology are without a common definition or comprehensive measure of this construct, complicating advancements in this burgeoning field. To address these gaps, we advance a novel understanding and measure of this construct. We conceptualized political solidarity as a construct consisting of three factors—allyship with a minority outgroup, a connection to their cause, and a commitment to working with them to achieve social change—that can emerge within and across social groups. Five studies empirically supported our conceptualization and measure; all participants were Canadian university students. In Study 1, 1,594 participants completed the initial 30-item pool. A series of exploratory factor analyses, along with indices of factor retention, supported the three-factor model. We retained three items per factor to create the 9-item Political Solidarity Measure (PSM). This three-factor model adequately fit Study 2 data (N = 275). In Study 3 (N = 268), we found evidence of the PSM’s convergent and discriminant validity. Studies 3 and 4 assessed the PSM’s retest stability in the medium-term (three to six months; Study 3) and short-term (a three-week period; Study 4; N = 126). Finally, we demonstrate the PSM’s predictive validity in Study 5 (N = 221). Controlling for modern racism, political orientation, and gender, PSM scores predicted collective action intentions and behavior benefitting the outgroup: Participants who reported higher political solidarity donated more to the outgroup’s cause and were more likely to agree to create a message of support.http://jspp.psychopen.eu/article/view/1058political solidaritycollective actionscale developmentscale validationintergroup relations |
| spellingShingle | Katelin Helene Siemens Neufeld Katherine Beata Starzyk Danielle Gaucher Political Solidarity: A Theory and a Measure Journal of Social and Political Psychology political solidarity collective action scale development scale validation intergroup relations |
| title | Political Solidarity: A Theory and a Measure |
| title_full | Political Solidarity: A Theory and a Measure |
| title_fullStr | Political Solidarity: A Theory and a Measure |
| title_full_unstemmed | Political Solidarity: A Theory and a Measure |
| title_short | Political Solidarity: A Theory and a Measure |
| title_sort | political solidarity a theory and a measure |
| topic | political solidarity collective action scale development scale validation intergroup relations |
| url | http://jspp.psychopen.eu/article/view/1058 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT katelinhelenesiemensneufeld politicalsolidarityatheoryandameasure AT katherinebeatastarzyk politicalsolidarityatheoryandameasure AT daniellegaucher politicalsolidarityatheoryandameasure |