I Get Knocked Down but I Get Up Again: Autonomous Motivation Sustains Identification and Collective Action After (Specific) Failure.

Abstract

Movements often experience setbacks while striving to achieve (or prevent) social change. We examined whether autonomous motivation-which captures supporters' internalized commitment to a cause-would sustain identification with the movement and collective action after experiencing failure (vs. success) outcomes following the marriage equality vote in Australia (Study 1; N = 186), and an experimental induction of movement failure (Study 2; N = 137). Autonomous motivation positively predicted identification and collective action, but there was no evidence of moderation by outcome. In Study 3 (N = 377), we experimentally manipulated outcomes (success/failure) and framing (specific/broad) of the climate action movement. We found evidence of a three-way interaction such that the effects of autonomous motivation on identification were strongest after a specific campaign failure. We conclude that autonomous motivation can help to buffer the demotivating effects of a specific failure as well as sustaining identification and commitment to action broadly.