Collective Effervescence, Self-Transcendence, and Gender Differences in Social Well-Being During 8 March Demonstrations.

Participation in International Women's Day demonstrations on 8 March 2020 is associated with positive personal and collective well-being outcomes, mediated by psychological mechanisms including perceived emotional synchrony, behavioral synchrony, and transcendent emotions. A cross-cultural survey of 2,854 people from nine Latin American and European countries compared demonstration participants with non-demonstrators who followed via media. Female and non-binary participants reported stronger effects than males. Meta-analyses showed perceived emotional synchrony consistently linked to both proximal mechanisms and well-being measures. Sequential moderation analyses indicated that the proposed mechanisms fully mediated the effects of participation on affective well-being, personal growth beliefs, social integration, collective efficacy, and intentions to support women's rights, consistent with a Durkheimian collective ritual framework.

Study at a glance

Abstract

8 March (8M), now known as International Women's Day, is a day for feminist claims where demonstrations are organized in over 150 countries, with the participation of millions of women all around the world. These demonstrations can be viewed as collective rituals and thus focus attention on the processes that facilitate different psychosocial effects. This work aims to explore the mechanisms (i.e., behavioral and attentional synchrony, perceived emotional synchrony, and positive and transcendent emotions) involved in participation in the demonstrations of 8 March 2020, collective and ritualized feminist actions, and their correlates associated with personal well-being (i.e., affective well-being and beliefs of personal growth) and collective well-being (i.e., social integration variables: situated identity, solidarity and fusion), collective efficacy and collective growth, and behavioral intention to support the fight for women's rights. To this end, a cross-cultural study was conducted with the participation of 2,854 people (age 18-79; M = 30.55; SD = 11.66) from countries in Latin America (Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador) and Europe (Spain and Portugal), with a retrospective correlational cross-sectional design and a convenience sample. Participants were divided between demonstration participants (n = 1,271; 94.0% female) and non-demonstrators or followers who monitored participants through the media and social networks (n = 1,583; 75.87% female). Compared with non-demonstrators and with males, female and non-binary gender respondents had greater scores in mechanisms and criterion variables. Further random-effects model meta-analyses revealed that the perceived emotional synchrony was consistently associated with more proximal mechanisms, as well as with criterion variables. Finally, sequential moderation analyses showed that proposed mechanisms successfully mediated the effects of participation on every criterion variable. These results indicate that participation in 8M marches and demonstrations can be analyzed through the literature on collective rituals. As such, collective participation implies positive outcomes both individually and collectively, which are further reinforced through key psychological mechanisms, in line with a Durkheimian approach to collective rituals.