Chapter 16 Does Commitment Change Worldviews?

Transcription

1 Chapter 16 Does Commitmet Chage Worldviews? Gia-Adrea Mosch ad Florece Passy I this chapter, we examie whether commitmet affects participats worldviews. Worldviews, or meaigs, 1 are defied as thikig-feelig tools idividuals use to make sese of their social ad political eviromet (Mead 1934; Weber 1978). I the preset study, participats are those idividuals who joi a evirometal protectio orgaizatio, a charitable orgaizatio, or a uio. Evidece i the literature o biographical cosequeces of activism is supportive (e.g., Passy ad Mosch forthcomig; Giugi 24): Idividuals who joi a orgaizatio sychroize their worldviews with the cultural scripts that circulate i the commuity. For example, Blee (216) shows that wome who joi far-right orgaizatios experiece a critical trasformatio idebted to a radical shift i their iterpersoal etwork. As oe of her iterviewee s states: I made ew frieds ad started to become obsessed with race.i thought about race 24/7 (p.9). Commitmet therefore affects people s meaigs. Yet, a coflictig argumet exists i the literature, oe that stresses a reverse causality, that is to say, specific worldviews are required to belog to the so-called mobilizatio potetial evetually leadig the idividual to egage i joit actio (e.g., Cotgrove ad Duff 198; Gamso et al. 1982; Kriesi 1989; Kladermas 1997). With this logic i mid, idividuals solely joi political or civic orgaizatios if their meaigs correspod. Commitmet, the, does ot chage worldviews. Our preset cotributio aims to shed light o this debate by aalyzig the effects of joiig a political or civic orgaizatio o worldviews over time. 1 I this cotributio, we use the terms worldviews ad meaigs iterchageably. G.-A. Mosch (*) FORS-Swiss Cetre of Expertise i the Social Scieces, Lausae, Switzerlad giaadrea.mosch@fors.uil.ch F. Passy Uiversity of Lausae, Lausae, Switzerlad florece.passy@uil.ch The Author(s) 218 R. Tillma et al. (eds.), Social Dyamics i Swiss Society, Life Course Research ad Social Policies 9, 231

2 232 G.-A. Mosch ad F. Passy Accordig to McAdam (29: 69) cogitive liberatio is sometimes a product rather tha a cause of protest. Accordigly, we suggest that the story behid the relatio betwee worldviews ad joit actio is more uaced tha has previously bee stated. Commitmet ca have a variety of iflueces o activists meaigs because commitmet experieces are particular. For example, we kow that life course effects of movemet participatio i terms of employmet, marriage, ad childbirth patters are usually stroger for wome tha for me (e.g., Va Dyke et al. 2; Vitera 213). Yet do we also fid group specific variatio i terms of effects o worldviews? We advace that there is a plurality of effects o the meaigs of people who take o a commitmet. Some perceive the world as members who sustai the commitmet do. Others become members of a political or civic orgaizatio without the ecessary cogitive tools. For the latter, we assume that sychroizatio of worldviews will occur oce they joi a specific orgaizatio. Three questios structure our cotributio. First, does commitmet geerally chage the worldviews of ew members? Secod, does commitmet have a groupspecific effect, especially whe it comes to members who joi a orgaizatio with dissimilar meaigs? Fially, are these effects durable? Before we aswer these questios, it is ecessary to offer a short overview of the literature o participatio i social movemets. Worldviews of New Members: Before ad after Commitmet The study of members worldviews ad the relatio to commitmet is fraught by divisios. Scholars focus either o causes to joi a orgaizatio, or o effects of participatio, rather tha treatig commitmet as what it actually is: a cotiuum. Idividuals who joi activism belog to a specific group: The so-called movemet potetial (Kladermas 1997). Alogside structural factors (biographical availability ad social etworks), such idividuals are iterally predisposed toward participatio. Ideed, their worldviews lead them to worry about specific social problems or to haress a awareess of certai political coflicts. Joiers possess a specific social achorage ad are equipped with particular values (e.g., Cotgrove ad Duff 198; Gamso et al. 1982; Kriesi 1989; Kladermas 1997; Passy ad Giugi 21). For example, activists withi the post-idustrial movemet commoly belog to the ew-middle class, are highly educated, ad are part of the post World War geeratios. I additio, they share post-materialist values, are left wig orieted ad highly progressive (e.g., Kriesi 1989; Passy ad Mosch 216). While the literature o the matter highlights the characteristics of a movemet s potetial, it fails to aswer the two followig questios: First, what happes to joiers with similar worldviews as those who are already committed? Secod, what about people recruited outside the mobilizatio potetial? We have elsewhere show that the latter is a fairly commo pheomeo (Passy ad Mosch 216). Uioists, for istace, ofte begi their commitmet i the wake of a coflictual experiece at work ad lack the worldviews a typical uio member would have. Aother

3 16 Does Commitmet Chage Worldviews? 233 example is the widespread practice of street-recruitmet, which attracts ew members outside the traditioal movemet potetial. Does commitmet affect the worldviews of this group of people? Ad if it does have a impact, is it a durable oe? Studies ivestigatig idividuals after they have committed have revealed that activism has multiple ad durable impacts o a idividuals life (e.g., McAdam 1988, 1989; Sherkat ad Blocker 1997; Giugi ad Grasso 216). I additio to alterig activists social etworks ad ifluecig activists practices, such as orietig persoal choices ad adoptig ew lifestyles, commitmet shapes activists worldviews ad idetity (e.g., Taylor 1989; Beckwith 216; Whittier 216). I a study o pro-life activists, Muso (29) demostrates that beliefs regardig abortio rarely impel idividuals to get ivolved. By joiig pro-life groups, however, activists wet through a socializig process durig which participat s views became more robust ad cosistet about abortio, while some coverted from prochoice to pro-life beliefs. Scholarship i social movemet ad voluteerig studies emphasizes that commitmet has substatial ad durable effects o voluteers worldviews ad lives (Wilso ad Musick 2; Wilso 212). While these fidigs are remarkably cosistet across studies (McAdam 1989), may of them are beset by methodological problems (Giugi 24). Amog these, causality is without cotest the most harmful. May studies rely o retrospective data ad lack a cotrol group. This problem is ot specific to social movemet studies as scholars ivestigatig biographical outcomes of voluteerism face the same drawback (Wilso ad Musick 2; Wilso 212). I additio, most studies focus o high levels of commitmet ad are restricted to a specific type of activists: The New-left cotetio. Thaks to the pael desig adopted by the Swiss Household Pael (SHP) data, we are able to overcome these shortcomigs. First, we take time ito cosideratio ad aalyze what happes before ad after idividuals joi a civic or political orgaizatio. Secod, as the SHP is a geeral populatio survey, we are i a positio to compare members with o-members. With logitudial data ad a cotrol-group we are able to make a causal argumet o the cosequeces of collective actio o people s worldviews. Fially, our data set icludes both highly committed members as well as the large majority of passive members who support a cause fiacially. Malleable Uderstadigs of Commo Good ad Politics We defie worldviews, 2 or meaigs, as a thikig-feelig tool that allows idividuals to perceive reality ad the world aroud them, to make sese of their social ad political eviromet, ad set their itetioality to act (Jasper 214, Searle 24). 2 Worldviews are either values or attitudes. Values are edurig beliefs (Rokeach 1973) whereas we kow that a idividuals mid chages (see work o mid plasticity, e.g. Macrae ad Bodehause 2). Attitudes are orietatios towards a positive or egative assessmet of somethig or someoe specific. Here, we cosider broader worldviews that help idividuals make sese of their social ad political eviromet.

4 234 G.-A. Mosch ad F. Passy Optig for this termiology situates us i the iterpretative traditio i sociology (e.g., Mead 1934; Berger ad Luckma 1967; Goffma 1967; Blumer 1969 amog may others). Weber (1978), oe of the mai propoets i this field, coceives of huma beigs i terms of voracious meaig makers. Hece, worldviews lie at the ceter of idividuals life: They eable them to perceive social realities, to make sese of them, ad to act i their social eviromet. But meaigs are social etities too. Cogitive processes are socially costructed, which meas that worldviews are shared withi the social sites a idividual evolves i (e.g. commitmet commuity, family, workplace, atio). They are costructed through social iteractios (e.g., Mead 1934; Blumer 1969; Collis 24; Fligstei ad McAdam 212): Through talks ad disputes, idividuals practice cultural scripts which circulate i the social sites they partake i (Mische 28; Polletta 28), ad this practice shapes their worldviews ad oriets their actio. 3 Correspodigly, movig from oe social site to aother affects idividuals meaigs (Zerubavel 1997; Eliasoph ad Lichterma 23). With this defiitio i mid, we expect that joiig a political or civic orgaizatio has a impact o members worldviews. However, activists joi ad experiece their commitmet differetly. Therefore, we expect variatio amog members regardig the effect of commitmet o worldviews. As we saw i the previous sectio, some joiers already share their worldviews with members of a give orgaizatio. For these idividuals, we suppose stability, i.e. joiig commitmet will ot drastically chage their meaigs. Others egage with dissimilar views compared to those preset amog members. They ecouter a host of ew cultural scripts which ca be practiced through talks ad disputes with fellow members, as well as withi iformal etworks. Commitmet is hece expected to affect their worldviews. It remais to be kow if chages are durable, as the literature suggests. I additio, idividuals have may worldviews though ot all of these are affected by political ad civic commitmet. We focus o two particular dimesios: Worldviews about commo good ad politics because they are the eds ad meas of the joit actio takig place withi the orgaizatios cosidered here: Members of orgaizatios of evirometal protectio use a cotetious actio repertoire (meas) that aims to protect the eviromet (ed). Voluteers of charitable orgaizatios provide support to deprived people (ed), ad by helpig the poor directly, seek to supplemet state itervetio (meas). Uioists, fially, use istitutioal ad cotetious politics (meas) to protect worker s rights (ed). Activists are supposed to act o a specific uderstadig of commo good. Those goods are specific, as they should objectively improve people s well-beig ad be shared by all commuity members (Aristotle 1988; Murphy 25). Who are the beeficiaries of the commo good? Is it society as a whole or restricted to specific 3 While we stress the social costructio of worldviews, we oetheless edorse a agetic coceptio, with room for idiosycrasy ad a idividual capable to resist. Idividuals are ivolved i various social sites ad face differet ad ofte coflictig worldviews that they have to itegrate i their self. This itegratio ad use of their cogitive resources is made with agecy (see Swidler 1986; Fligstei ad McAdam 212).

5 16 Does Commitmet Chage Worldviews? 235 groups? Ad are members cocered by may commo goods or oly by the oe they commit to? Six idicators allow us to evaluate this dimesio: Geeral trust, wome s pealizatio, measures for wome, chages for foreigers, evirometal protectio, ad wealth redistributio. 4 The secod dimesio is their uderstadig of politics, which is how people perceive ad thik about actors i the political area. Are state actors accoutable for the commo good ad should they itervee to elarge ad secure it? Do idividuals legitimize state actors ad their performaces? Ad what is the role of a citize i democracy? Should a citize be iterested i, ad vigilat about, political processes ad decisios? Should a citize value the importace of takig part i participatory politics? We rely o seve idicators to evaluate this dimesio: Opiios o the amout of social expeses, geeral satisfactio with democracy, trust i the Federal Govermet, political iterest, ad the itetio to boycott, demostrate, ad strike. 5 Ufortuately, survey data i geeral is limited i scope regardig the aalyzable uaces of people s worldviews. This is especially visible whe oe wats to equire ito worldviews provided by a geeral populatio survey, as the SHP is madated to cover a broad rage of subjects. As a cosequece, some idicators are proxies at best, or are loosely related to our cocept. For example, political iterest provides oly a rough measure for political vigilace. While someoe probably has to have some iterest i politics i order to be vigilat, oe ca easily imagie that 4 For geeral trust, respodets were asked whether they would say that most people ca be trusted or if you ca t be too careful i dealig with people, where meas Ca t be too careful ad 1 meas Most people ca be trusted. Wome s pealizatio was measured with this item: Do you have the feelig that i Switzerlad wome are pealized more tha me i certai areas, where meas ot at all pealized ad 1 strogly pealized? For measures for wome, we used the followig questio: Are you i favor of Switzerlad takig more steps to esure the promotio of wome, where meas ot at all i favor ad 1 totally i favor? Respodet s opiios about chages for foreigers is evaluated with the followig: Are you i favor of Switzerlad offerig foreigers the same opportuities as those offered to Swiss citizes, or i favor of Switzerlad offerig Swiss citizes better opportuities? Respodets could be either favorable to equal opportuities, to better opportuities, or either. Regardig Opiio about evirometal protectio, respodets were asked whether they are favorable to Switzerlad beig more cocered with evirometal protectio tha with ecoomic growth, ad vice-versa. Agai, respodets could either be i favor of evirometal protectio, ecoomic growth, or either. The questio for wealth redistributio, fially, evaluates whether the respodet is i favor of a icrease or decrease i the taxes o high icome, or either. 5 For their opiio o social expeses, respodets were asked whether they are i favor of a dimiutio, i favor of a icrease of the Cofederatio social spedig or either of the two. Satisfactio with democracy was measured with this item: Overall, how satisfied are you with the way i which democracy works i our coutry, if meas ot at all satisfied ad 1 completely satisfied. Trust i the Federal Govermet is based o this questio: How much cofidece do you have i the Federal Govermet if meas o cofidece ad 1 meas full cofidece. Political iterest is measured with the followig questio: Geerally, how iterested are you i politics, if meas ot at all iterested ad 1 very iterested? To evaluate the itetio to boycott, demostrate ad strike, respodets were asked with three items: If meas ever ad 1 certaily, tell me to what extet, i the future, you are prepared to take part i a boycott/ demostratio/strike.

6 236 G.-A. Mosch ad F. Passy someoe is politically iterested without beig vigilat. As a cosequece, the validity of our measures is somewhat limited, makig it hard to evaluate the uderlyig theoretical dimesios. We oetheless cosider the esemble of attitudial idicators aalyzed a reasoable represetatio of a worldview. Therefore, the SHP s pael desig largely outweighs this drawback, offerig a rather uique opportuity to explore the worldviews of members over time. How to Aalyze Chages i Worldviews? Our aalyses ivestigate worldviews of all the idividuals icluded i the origial sample who respoded regularly over 11 years (1999 to 29) is the startig date of the pael ad 29 is the last year whe questios o membership were asked aually. From 29 owards, the membership questios were put ito a rotative module ad are ow oly measured oce every 3 years. Membership is obviously crucial for the aalyses coducted here as it allows us to attribute respodets to the group of members who sustai commitmet, ew joiers, ad o-members respectively. 7 It was temptig to add the years 211 ad 214 where the iformatio o membership exists. However, this would have required us makig assumptios about idividuals commitmet i 21, 212, ad 213. To icrease the robustess of the fidigs, we decided to dismiss this time period from our sample. We the decided to look oly at membership for the years 23, 24, ad 25 i order to observe the same group over time. This decisio excludes people who joi or leave i other years but brigs alog two key advatages. First, the worldviews of every joier ca be observed over a substatial amout of time: Four years before ad after commitmet takes place. 8 Secod, a idetical group of joiers is observed over time, thereby elimiatig ay iter-idividual differeces from the aalyses. These ted to erase itra-idividual variatio, which makes the procedure a valuable oe. I terms of age, we iclude a large age rage i our workig sample so as to provide respodets with the opportuity for membership urestricted by age or mobility. I the first year of iquiry (1999) we took idividuals from 15 years to 8 years of age for the last year of observatio (29). 9 6 Regularly meas that a idividual has to take part i every wave where a specific questio was asked. However, as ot all idicators were measured over the whole timespa, the sample size slightly varies betwee idicators. 7 For membership, respodets are asked the followig questio: I will ow read out a list of associatios ad orgaizatios. Could you tell me for each of them whether you are a active member, a passive member or ot a member? 8 Due to data availability, this is ot always possible. Itetio to demostrate, for example, is oly available betwee 1999 ad 28. Hece, for this particular idicator, we provide data for 4 years before but oly 3 years after a idividual has become a member. 9 All these decisios are the product of a iterative process durig which we tested several possible costructios of the membership variable ad ra aalyses with ad without weights. Overall, the results are very similar ad we are cofidet with the result preseted here.

7 16 Does Commitmet Chage Worldviews? 237 The aalyses preseted below merge members of evirometal orgaizatios, charitable orgaizatios, ad uios. 1 I additio, we decided to combie active ad passive membership because the umber of active members is too small to be aalyzed separately. Moreover, we have elsewhere show that commitmet affects worldviews of both active ad passive members (Passy ad Mosch 216). Whereas active members ejoy opportuities to practice commuity specific cultural scripts i their iteractios with other members, empirical evidece shows that passive members rely o people i their iterpersoal etwork (frieds ad relatives) who are favorable or committed to the commuity i questio (see also McAdam 1988; Kladermas 1997). We hece take full advatage of the potetial of the SHP pael desig. This allows us to observe the same idividuals yearly over a log period, both before ad after they become members. I additio, as the SHP is a geeral populatio survey, it aturally etails a cotrol group of o-members. These characteristics make these data well suited to study biographical cosequeces. Specific Worldviews of Members Before turig to the effects of commitmet o worldviews, we eed to clarify three poits. How importat is political ad civic commitmet as a pheomeo i Switzerlad? Is it commo for ew members to maitai their commitmet? Ad do members hold specific worldviews which depart from o-members? First, commitmet is clearly a importat ad widespread pheomeo i Switzerlad. Accordig to the SHP data, more tha 4% of all respodets are members of Gree cotetio, uios, or a charitable orgaizatio. 11 Commitmet i Switzerlad is hece a widespread pheomeo icludig about half of the atioal populatio. Give the fact that we do ot possess idicators o other types of activism, such as LGBT, huma rights, migrats rights, peace groups, etc., the evidece ievitably uderestimates the rage ad extet of commitmet i the coutry. Aother elemet is the rather stable feature of commitmet over time. From 1999 to 29 the umbers do ot chage ad are quite impressive. What is stressed is that ivestigatig political ad social participatio, ad cosequeces of commitmet o worldviews, is ot merely a rhetorical questio, especially give the large umber of idividuals ivolved. Secod, we ask whether members, who have just joied a collective edeavor, are iclied to maitai their commitmet. After all, if worldviews are affected by commitmet, the effect must occur oce activists ejoy social iteractios ad practice cultural scripts withi the give commuity. 12 We observe such 1 We do this for three mai reasos; first, limited costraits. Secod, it allows us to obtai reasoable umbers to aalyze subgroups, especially for the group of joiers who possess other uderstadigs. Third, the results are very similar whe members of these groups were aalyzed separately. 11 We tested this factor for the years 1999, 24 ad About 8% of members uder study are passive members who support their respective orgaizatio fiacially. We have show that passive members are also ivolved i social iteractios ad practice the cultural scripts available i their commitmet commuities (Passy ad Mosch 216).

8 238 G.-A. Mosch ad F. Passy sustaied commitmet i the SHP data: Aroud 8% of all idividuals who were committed i 1999 sustai their ivolvemet over time (3% sustai commitmet betwee 2 ad 4 years ad 5% more tha 5 years). Sustaied exposure to social iteractios withi these commuities thus offers opportuities to ifluece members worldviews at the very least. Fially, worldviews of members depart from those of o-activists. As show i Table 16.1, members who sustai participatio clearly hold specific meaigs whe it comes to their uderstadig of commo good ad politics. 13 Let us discuss this aspect i more detail. Members uderstadig of commo good clearly differs from that of o-members. O average, they trust others, perceive wome as more pealized tha me, ad are proe to ecourage wome promotio more. These worldviews sigificatly depart from those of o-members (see Eta ad Chi- squared coefficiets). Additioally, members thik foreigers should beefit from the same opportuities tha Swiss citizes, evirometal protectio should be a priority, ad taxes for higher icome earers should be icreased to eable a better distributio of commo good. These questios cocer members more tha o-members. Members uderstadigs of politics are also specific, especially regardig their political iterest ad itetio to boycott, to demostrate, ad to strike. Meawhile, differeces for their opiios cocerig icreases i the state s social expeses, their overall satisfactio with democracy, as well as their trust i the Federal Govermet are statistically sigificat, but oly by a small margi. It is surprisig to ote that members are more satisfied with democratic procedures ad are more iclied to trust politicias. Ideed, we could have expected a more critical stace resultig i less satisfactio ad trust because state de-legitimizatio is cosidered to costitute a importat factor for protest participatio (Pive ad Cloward 1977). Three elemets help clarify this result. First, the Swiss populatio geerally displays a high level of political trust compared to populatios of other Europea coutries (Bauer et al. 213). Secod, may types of orgaizatios are icluded i the member category, etailig that idividuals could be members of a typical protest actor or ot. For example, the uio commuity is quite fragmeted i Switzerlad whe it comes to sectorial (public vs. private) ad ideological (left wig vs. Christia) lies (Kriesi ad Trechsel 28). I tur, this iflueces the actio repertoire deployed ad the subsequet coceptio of politics. Fially, the two idicators used to assess Swiss democracy ad its political istitutios are rather geeral. While it is ecessary to take these exceptios ito accout, the overall picture remais clear: Members possess a specific uderstadig of politics. However, less is kow about the time-spa ecessary for activists to sychroize their worldviews with their peers. It seems reasoable to expect variatio with respect to the participat s level of commitmet ad the political challege their mobilizatio ivolves. For idividuals lightly committed to a mobilizatio of low level of political challege, we expect that the process takes loger tha for active members ivolved i challegig cotetios. 13 People i this category were members of either a orgaizatio of evirometal protectio, charity, or uio durig 23, 24, ad 25.

9 16 Does Commitmet Chage Worldviews? 239 Table 16.1 Compariso betwee worldviews of members ad o-members UNDERSTANDINGS OF COMMON GOOD Members No-members Meas Meas Eta Geeral trust i people 6.6 (1.7) 6.2 (1.9).14 *** Wome pealized 5.75 (1.8) 5.5 (1.9).6 ** Measures for wome 6.7 (2.5) 5.81 (2.6).5 * % % χ 2 Chages for foreigers *** Evirometal protectio *** Taxes for high icome *** UNDERSTANDINGS OF POLITICS Members No-members χ 2 Icrease i social expeses *** Meas Meas Eta Satisfactio with democracy 6.3 (1.4) 6.4 (1.5).8 *** Trust i Federal Govermet 5.94 (1.6) 5.62 (1.8).9 *** Iterest i politics 6.57 (2.2) 5.45 (2.5).22 *** Itetio to boycott 5.52 (3.) 3.98 (3.1).23 *** Itetio to demostrate 5.34 (2.9) 3.7 (3.).25 *** Itetio to strike 4.79 (3.1) (2.9) *** Note: * p <.5 ** p <.1 *** p <.1. Eta for iterval scaled variables ad χ 2 for dummies. Source: Swiss household pael Throughout the discussio of Table 16.1, we have show that members possess a distict uderstadig of commo good ad politics whe cotrasted with omembers. They have a more iclusive visio of society, are more cocered by differet commo goods, legitimize state actors more, ad have a more vigilat ad participatory coceptio of citizeship. As other variables (e.g. educatio, social class) were ot assessed, this is merely correlatioal evidece which highlights the differeces betwee members ad o-members.

10 24 G.-A. Mosch ad F. Passy Multiple Effects of Commitmet: Stable ad Malleable Worldviews Members possess specific worldviews. But whe do these meaigs become specific? Table 16.2 allows us to ivestigate whether ad uder which coditios worldviews of members chage. The table is orgaized i the followig maer: The bold vertical lie i the middle marks the momet respodets became members. I relatio to this momet, the colums before ad after the bold vertical lie outlie the 4 years prior (t-4, t-3, t-2, t-1) ad after (t + 1, t + 2, t + 3, t + 4) these idividuals bega participatio. I additio, at the right ed of Table 16.2 we have added a colum where t-tests betwee the idicators 1 year before people started commitmet (t-1) ad 1 year after this evet happeed (t + 1) are reported. This is so i order to evaluate whether members worldviews chaged. Like i Table 16.1, the rows go through the idicators of joiers uderstadigs of commo good ad politics with the exceptio that each idicator is listed twice: Oce for all joiers ad oce for ew members with other worldviews. 14 Accordigly, discussio of the results ceters first o all joiers, the turs to the sub-group with other meaigs. What happes to worldviews of joiers? Do they chage after they joi their respective orgaizatio? Ad if chages occur, are they durable? Overall, we observe a high degree of stability for idividuals who eter ito participatio: Their worldviews do ot chage. Their uderstadig of commo good ad of politics remais the same before ad after joiig a give orgaizatio. However, two exceptios cotradict this geeral patter of stable worldviews: Trust i others ad political iterest. Both the level of trust ad iterest i politics icreases oce idividuals joi a orgaizatio. The literature o voluteerism shows similar results (Eggert ad Giugi 21 for political iterest; Sivesid et al. 213 for social trust). Our result therefore backs these fidigs. Ideed, commitmet affects social trust ad political iterest i a positive maer. 15 Social trust ad political iterest set aside, the worldviews of activists do ot chage. This implies that social iteractios which occur after idividuals eter activism do ot ecessarily ifluece their worldviews. As we see whe comparig the results with those reported i Table 16.1, joiers are already close to members before they start participatio, ad these particular uderstadigs remai stable over time. Hece, scholarship that stresses that activist groups recruit ewcomers i their mobilizatio potetial is right: Their worldviews overlap substatially with those of members already committed We defied bechmarks for ew members with other worldviews i relatio to the results for the member category i Table 16.1 (see the greater-tha sigs i Table 16.2). For the iterval-scaled idicators, the basis for this decisio was the meas of members who sustai participatio. For omial-scaled idicators, we have excluded the respective modal value of faithful members. 15 Measures for wome ad taxes o high icome also show sigificat chages (see t-test i Table 16.2). However, these differece remai small ad ted to vaish over time (see t + 2, t + 3 ad t + 4). 16 Additioal aalyses show that members also predomiately belog to the movemet potetial i terms of their social characteristics (age, social class, ad educatio).

11 16 Does Commitmet Chage Worldviews? 241 Table 16.2 Joier s worldviews of commo good ad politics over time UNDERSTANDINGS OF COMMON GOOD Time t-4 t-3 t-2 t-1 t + 1 t + 2 t + 3 t + 4 t-1 vs t + 1 All joiers Meas (SD) Meas (SD) Meas (SD) Meas (SD) Meas (SD) Meas (SD) Meas (SD) Meas (SD) t-test Geeral trust i people ( = 983) Wome pealized ( = 923) Measures for wome ( = 92) Joiers with other worldviews Geeral trust i people ( = 141) < 5. Wome pealized ( = 214) < 5.5 Measures for wome 5.58 (2.2) 5.95 (2.9) 3.39 (1.7) 2.92 (2.) 5.66 (2.2) 5.92 (2.9) 3.54 (1.7) 2.82 (2.) 6.3 (2.) 5.61 (2.1) 5.96 (2.8) 2.87 (1.6) 3.61 (1.5) 2.91 (2.) 6.62 (1.9) 5.67 (2.1) 6.21 (2.7) 4.48 (2.) 3.81 (1.9) 3.42 (2.1) 6.64 (1.9) 5.67 (2.1) 6.9 (2.7) 4.35 (1.7) 3.82 (1.8) 3.49 (2.1) 6.66 (1.9) 5.62 (2.) 6.15 (2.7) 4.34 (1.8) 3.83 (1.8) 3.31 (2.1) 6.67 (1.9) 5.46 (2.) 5.99 (2.7) 4.4 (2.) 3.89 (1.8) 3.28 (2.1) ( = 227) < 5.5 All joiers % % % % % % % % t-test Chaces for foreigers ( = 857) Evirometal protectio ( = 861) Taxes for high icome ( = 856) Joiers with other worldviews For equal chaces for foreigers ( = 125) For evirometal protectio ( = 286) For higher taxes for high icome ( = 11) UNDERSTANDINGS OF POLITICS Time t-4 t-3 t-2 t-1 t + 1 t + 2 t + 3 t + 4 t-1 vs t + 1 % % % % % % % % t-test (cotiued) *** s 3.68 *** 7.89 *** 1.66 (*) 3.92 *** s s 2.16 * 2.91 ** 4.11 *** 3.65 ***

12 242 G.-A. Mosch ad F. Passy Table 16.2 (cotiued) UNDERSTANDINGS OF COMMON GOOD All joiers Icrease i social expeses s ( = 824) Joiers with other worldviews For a icrease i social expeses ( = 322) *** All joiers Meas (SD) Meas (SD) Meas (SD) Meas (SD) Meas (SD) Meas (SD) Meas (SD) Meas (SD) t-test Satisfactio with democracy ( = 97) Trust i Federal Gov. ( = 913) Iterest i politic ( = 936) Itetio to boycott ( = 914) Itetio to demostrate ( = 926) Itetio to strike ( = 92) Joiers with other worldviews Satisfactio with democracy ( = 211) < 6. Trust i Federal Gov. ( = 23) < 5.5 Iterest i politic ( = 248) < 5.5 Itetio to boycott ( = 293) < 5. Itetio to demostrate ( = 34) < 5. Itetio to strike ( = 389) < (1.6) 6.2 (1.9) 6.3 (2.4) 4.68 (3.4) 4.32 (3.4) 3.81 (3.3) 4.59 (1.2) 3.98 (1.4) 3.22 (1.8) 1.59 (1.7) 1.41 (1.6) 1.24 (1.5) 6.18 (1.6) 5.92 (1.8) 6.1 (2.4) 4.71 (3.4) 4.44 (3.3) 3.9 (3.3) 4.47 (1.4) 3.95 (1.4) 3.34 (1.7) 1.59 (1.7) 1.45 (1.6) 1.22 (1.5) 6.15 (1.7) 5.84 (1.8) 6.16 (2.4) 4.99 (3.5) 4.51 (3.4) 4.5 (3.4) 4.49 (1.4) 3.8 (1.5) 3.32 (1.7) 1.61 (1.7) 1.51 (1.6) 1.3 (1.6) 6.18 (1.5) 5.68 (1.8) 6.1 (2.5) 4.81 (3.4) 4.4 (3.3) 3.93 (3.3) 4.58 (1.2) 3.82 (1.5) 3.14 (1.8) 1.52 (1.7) 1.41 (1.6) 1.32 (1.6) 6.16 (1.6) 5.6 (1.8) 6.22 (2.4) 4.69 (3.4) 4.42 (3.3) 3.91 (3.3) 4.67 (1.5) 3.89 (1.5) 3.5 (1.9) 1.77 (1.9) 1.58 (1.8) 1.43 (1.8) Note: (*) p <.1 * p <.5 ** p <.1 *** p <.1. t-tests for depedet samples. Source: Swiss household pael 6.18 (1.6) 5.56 (1.8) 6.19 (2.4) 4.64 (3.4) 4.32 (3.3) 3.76 (3.2) 4.74 (1.4) 3.83 (1.5) 3.52 (1.9) 1.69 (1.8) 1.71 (2.) 1.47 (1.8) 6.2 (1.6) 5.63 (1.8) 6.26 (2.3) 4.36 (3.4) 4.25 (3.3) 3.72 (3.2) 4.74 (1.4) 3.83 (1.5) 3.62 (1.9) 1.6 (1.8) 1.54 (1.8) 1.43 (1.8) 6.2 (1.6) 5.69 (1.8) 6.27 (2.4) 4.7 (1.5) 3.96 (1.5) 3.63 (1.9) s s 2.62 ** s s s s s 3.81 *** 3.16 ** 2.56 * 1.91 (*)

13 16 Does Commitmet Chage Worldviews? 243 However, the picture chages oce we cosider joiers with other worldviews tha those who sustai commitmet. For this group, we observe a sigificat chage oce membership has begu. A sychroizatio process is clearly at work, be it for their uderstadigs of commo good, or regardig their uderstadigs of politics. While very few idicators were sigificat whe all joiers are cosidered together, most of them are affected by commitmet for joiers with other worldviews. Ad these chages are ot merely visible a year after membership has occurred (t + 1), but remai stable over time, ad do ot regress to the level before the orgaizatio was joied. As for the dimesio of commo good, five out of six idicators show a sigificat chage oce members with other uderstadigs commece their commitmet. While still sigificat, the questio regardig the level of wome s pealizatio departs from this geeral picture. Joiers with other worldviews tha those shared by members of evirometal protectio groups, charitable orgaizatios, ad uios, oly icrease slightly i their perceptio that wome are disadvataged. By cotrast, they become more favorable to takig measures for the promotio of wome. Joiers with other worldviews see their uderstadigs of politics equally affected by commitmet. This group becomes more iclied towards a icrease i state social expeses, more iterested i politics, ad shows a higher protest itetio o average. However, satisfactio with democracy, as well as trust i the Federal Govermet, diverges from this geeral tred. While satisfactio with democracy grows slowly over time (t + 2, t + 3 ad t + 4), trust i the Federal Govermet is ot affected by commitmet. Multiple Effects o Members Worldviews This chapter provides evidece for two argumets. O the oe had, may idividuals joi a political or civic orgaizatio with similar worldviews to those held by members of the orgaizatio. I that regard, the low umbers for the group of joiers with other uderstadigs is a result i its ow right, as oly few joiers belog to this group. This group s worldviews is oly margially affected by commitmet. O the other had, commitmet has a durable effect o the worldviews of idividuals who joi a commitmet with other uderstadigs. Ufortuately, we are limited by very geeral idicators, as well as by small umbers, whe we wat to compare subgroups. Further research will be required to ivestigate the worldviews of members over time. Throughout this chapter, we argued that commitmet chages people s worldviews. The results idicate that commitmet has a differetial effect o the uderstadigs of commo good ad politics of idividuals who become members of a evirometal protectio orgaizatio, a charitable orgaizatio, or a uio. The majority of joiers egage with meaigs close to those of members who sustai commitmet, a result that sustais the argumet put forth by movemet potetial scholars, who claim that, idividuals eed to hold particular worldviews i order to

14 244 G.-A. Mosch ad F. Passy joi a orgaizatio. However, a o-egligible part of joiers become members with other worldviews of commo good ad politics, ad this group is clearly affected i the way we suggested: Their worldviews are sychroized ad these chages are durable. Thus, stability ad chages are ot mutually exclusive whe it comes to the effects of political ad civic participatio. Our major aim cosists i takig a first step towards the study of variatios amog socializatio patters ad poitig out that metal cosequeces are group specific. I terms of future research, we should aalyze the various effects of commitmet accordig to differet groups. We would hece further our kowledge regardig the coditios uder which commitmet has a effect o members worldviews, cocerig the gedered experiece i uio activism, for example (Va Dyke et al. 2). Logitudial data would be idispesable if we were to udertake such a study. The SHP data has prove valuable i this respect. However, assessig the meaigs of members with the sole use of idicators destied to survey a geeral populatio has its limits. I the future, a additioal task will hece be to develop more refied measuremets, which could take the form of a pael study dedicated to aalyzig the effects of political commitmet, to complemet this fasciatig dataset. Goig dow this path will icrease our uderstadig of the role played by political ad civic commitmet for participat s worldviews i particular, ad allow us to examie the effects o their life course more geerally. Refereces Aristotle. (1988). Ethica Nicomachea. Oxford: Oxford Uiversity Press. Bauer, P. C., Freitag, M., & Sciarii, P. (213). Political trust i Switzerlad: Agai a special case? SSRN. Beckwith, K. (216). All is ot lost: The British miers strike ad mobilizatio after defeat. I L. Bosi, M. Giugi, & K. Uba (Eds.), The cosequeces of social movemets (pp. 4165). Cambridge: Cambridge Uiversity Press. Berger, P. L., & Luckma, T. (1967). The social costructio of reality: A treatise i the sociology of kowledge. Garde City: Achor Books. Blee, K. M. (216). Persoal effects from far-right activism. I L. Bosi, M. Giugi, & K. Uba (Eds.), The cosequeces of social movemets (pp. 6684). Cambridge: Cambridge Uiversity Press. Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic iteractioism: Perspective ad method. Eglewood Cliffs: Pretice-Hall. Collis, R. (24). Iteractio ritual chais. Priceto: Priceto Uiversity Press. Cotgrove, S., & Duff, A. (198). Evirometalism, middle-class radicalism ad politics. The Sociological Review, 28, Va Dyke, N., McADam, D., & Wilhelm, B. (2). Gedered outcomes: Geder differeces i the biographical cosequeces of activism. Mobilizatios, 5, Eggert, N., & Giugi, M. (21). Does associatioal ivolvemet spur political itegratio? Political iterest ad participatio of three immigrat groups i Zurich. Swiss Polit Sci Rev, 16, Eliasoph, N., & Lichterma, P. (23). Culture i iteractio. The America Joural of Sociology, 18, Fligstei, N., & McAdam, D. (212). A theory of fields. Oxford: Oxford Uiversity Press.

15 16 Does Commitmet Chage Worldviews? 245 Gamso, W. A., Firema, B., & Rytia, S. (1982). Ecouters with ujust authority, the Dorsey series i sociology editio. Homewood: Dorsey Press. Giugi, M. (24). Persoal ad biographical cosequeces. I D. A. Sow, S. A. Soule, & H. Kriesi (Eds.), The Blackwell compaio to social movemets. Oxford: Blackwell. Giugi, M., & Grasso, M. T. (216). The biographical impact of participatio i social movemet activities: Beyod highly committed ew left activism. I The cosequeces of social movemets (pp. 8515). Cambridge: Cambridge Uiversity Press. Goffma, E. (1967). Iteractio ritual: Essays o face-to-face behavior. New York: Achor Books. Jasper, J. M. (214). Feelig-thikig: Emotios as cetral to culture. I B. Baumgarte, P. Daphi, & P. Ullrich (Eds.), Coceptualizatig culture i social movemet research (pp. 2344). Lodo: Palgrave Macmilla. Kladermas, B. (1997). The social psychology of protest (1st ed.). Oxford ad Cambridge: Wiley-Blackwell. Kriesi, H. (1989). New social movemets ad the ew class i the Netherlads. The America Joural of Sociology, 94, Kriesi, H., & Trechsel, A. H. (28). The politics of Switzerlad. Cotiuity ad chage i a cosesus democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge Uiversity Press. Macrae, C. N., & Bodehause, G. (2). Social cogitio: Thikig categorically about others. Aual Review of Psychology, 51(1), McAdam, D. (1988). Freedom summer. Oxford: Oxford Uiversity Press. McAdam, D. (1989). The biographical cosequeces of activism. America Sociological Review, 54, McAdam, D. (29). Recruits to civil rights activism. I The social movemets reader. Cases ad cocepts (2d ed., pp. 6674). Malde: Wiley-Blackwell. Mead, G. (1934). Mid, self ad society from the stadpoit of a social behaviorist. Chicago: Uiversity of Chicago Press. Mische, A. (28). Partisa publics: Commuicatio ad cotetio across Brazilia youth activist etworks. Priceto: Priceto Uiversity Press. Muso, Z. W. (29). The makig of pro-life activists. How social movemet mobilizatio works. Chicago: The Uiversity of Chicago Press. Murphy, M. C. (25). The commo good. The Review of Metaphysics, 59, Passy, F., & Giugi, M. (21). Social etworks ad idividual perceptios: Explaiig differetial participatio i social movemets. I Sociological Forum (pp ). Spriger. Passy, F., & Mosch, G.-A. (216). Cotetious mids. How ties ad talks sustai activism. Book Mauscript. Passy, F., & Mosch, G.-A. (forthcomig). Persoal ad biographical cosequeces of activism. I D. A. Sow, S. A. Soule, H. Kriesi, & H. McCammo (Eds.), Wiley-Blackwell compaio to social movemets. Malde: Wiley Blackwell. Pive, F. F., & Cloward, R. (1977). Poor People s movemets: Why they succeed, how they fail. New York: Vitage Books. Polletta, F. (28). Culture ad movemets. The Aals of the America Academy of Political ad Social Sciece, 619, Rokeach, M. (1973). The ature of huma values. New York: Free Press. Searle, J. R. (24). Mid: A brief itroductio. Oxford: Oxford Uiversity Press. Sherkat, D. E., & Blocker, T. J. (1997). Explaiig the political ad persoal cosequeces of protest. Social Forces, 75, Sivesid, K. H., Pospíšilová, T., & Frič, P. (213). Does Voluteerig Cause Trust? Europea Societies, 15, Swidler, A. (1986). Culture i actio: Symbols ad strategies. America Sociological Review, 51, 273. Taylor, V. (1989). Social movemet cotiuity: The Wome s movemet i abeyace. America Sociological Review, 54,

16 246 G.-A. Mosch ad F. Passy Vitera, J. (213). Wome i war: The micro-processes of mobilizatio i El Salvador. Oxford ad New York: Oxford Uiversity Press. Weber, M. (1978). Ecoomy ad society: A outlie of iterpretive sociology. Califoria: Uiversity of Califoria Press. Whittier, N. (216). Aggregate-level biographical outcomes for gay ad lesbia movemets. I L. Bosi, M. Giugi, & K. Uba (Eds.), The cosequeces of social movemets (pp ). Cambridge: Cambridge Uiversity Press. Wilso, J. (212) Voluteerism research: A review essay. Noprofit Volut Sect Q XX:137. Wilso, J., & Musick, M. (2). The effects of voluteerig o the voluteer. Law ad Cotemporary Problems, 62, Zerubavel, E. (1997). Social midscapes: A ivitatio to cogitive sociology. Cambridge: Harvard Uiversity Press. Ope Access This chapter is licesed uder the terms of the Creative Commos Attributio 4. Iteratioal Licese ( which permits use, sharig, adaptatio, distributio ad reproductio i ay medium or format, as log as you give appropriate credit to the origial author(s) ad the source, provide a lik to the Creative Commos licese ad idicate if chages were made. The images or other third party material i this chapter are icluded i the chapter s Creative Commos licese, uless idicated otherwise i a credit lie to the material. If material is ot icluded i the chapter s Creative Commos licese ad your iteded use is ot permitted by statutory regulatio or exceeds the permitted use, you will eed to obtai permissio directly from the copyright holder.