Perception of emotional climate in a revolution: Test of a multistage theory of revolution in the Tunisian context
(2017) British Journal of Social Psychology — Vol. 56, n° 4, p. 633-654 (2017)
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- Participation in social movements and collective action depends upon people's capacity to perceive their societal context. We examined this question in the context of Arab Spring revolutions. In a classic theory of revolution highlighting the role of collective emotions, Brinton (1938) claimed that revolutions, far from chaos, proceed in an orderly sequence involving four stages: euphoria, degradation, terror, and restoration. The emotional climate as perceived by ordinary Tunisian citizens (2699 women and 3816 men) was measured during the four years of the Tunisian revolution. A quadratic pattern of perceived emotional climate measures over time provided strong support to Brinton's model. In addition, three different analyses suggested the presence of four distinct stages in the evolution of perceived emotional climate. Third, the socio-political developments in Tunisia during the four stages proved entirely consistent with both Brintons' theoretical model and the perceived emotional climate indicators. Finally, social identification proved closely related to the temporal evolution of positive emotional climate scores. In sum, data from this study not only lend support to the views put forth in an heretofore untested classic theory of revolution but they also demonstrate that psychosocial measurements can validly monitor a major process of socio-political transformation.
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Rimé, B., Yzerbyt, V., & Mahjoub, A. (2017). Perception of emotional climate in a revolution: Test of a multistage theory of revolution in the Tunisian context. British Journal of Social Psychology, 56(4), 633-654. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12204 (Original work published 2017)