Social Esteem Motivates Political Rally Attendance: A Field Experiment's Findings

Individuals may join contentious collective action for social approval from their ingroup.

Field Experiment Design:

• Measured intent to attend, actual attendance, and reported attendance at an LGBT Pride event in New Jersey.
• Tested the impact of promising social esteem on these participation measures.

Key Findings & Implications:

• Social esteem boosts all three metrics significantly.
• Offers new insights into nonvoting political engagement.