Danny Osborne

Efforts to recognize gender diversity have become sites of political conflict, mobilizing progressive support and reactionary resistance. Understanding this resistance requires identifying which grievances arise during social change and explaining how they correlate with reactionary politicized identities and collective action. We argue that societal change becomes psychologically consequential through multiple identity‐related threats. Study 1 ( N = 1160) demonstrates that perceived threats to identity‐relevant aspects of social change—changes to gender and sexuality categories, one's gender identity and the societal order—uniquely correlate with stronger identification as an opponent of gender diversity, which mediates their associations with collective action against gender‐inclusive language. Study 2 ( N = 619) replicates these results, controlling for perceived aesthetic quality of gender‐inclusive language, and extends them to identification as an opponent of the queer movement and opposition to transgender inclusion. These findings highlight multiple identity‐related pathways linking social change to reactionary politicized identification and collective action.

When experimental methods are impractical (e.g., the focus is on individual differences), longitudinal data allow researchers to examine how constructs change over time. There is, however, an ongoi...

Although sexism may serve as a gateway into the men's rights movement, few studies have examined group processes in online environments that fuel this reactionary movement. We address this gap by examining whether interacting with like‐minded others fosters an emergent social identity as a “men's rights supporter” among sexist men; and whether identification predicts willingness to engage in reactionary actions undermining gender equality. Across two studies ( N s = 443, 755), men completed a hostile sexism measure and read about the perceived impacts of feminism on men. Participants then either discussed whether feminism negatively impacts men in an online chatroom (group deliberation) or reflected individually (individual deliberation). Hostile sexism predicted identification as a men's rights supporter, and this link was stronger in the group deliberation condition. In turn, identification predicted greater reactionary action intentions. Unexpectedly, these effects emerged only among men who indicated that their group was unsure about the impact of feminism after the discussion. A post‐hoc content analysis of the pooled chat logs revealed that these men engaged in discussions marked by conflict and disagreement, suggesting that identification with the movement emerged through dissent rather than consensus. These findings highlight complex social dynamics underpinning engagement with the men's rights movement.

Ingroup identification is a central predictor of myriad attitudes and behaviors. Indeed, because individuals derive part of their self-concept from their membership in social groups (Tajfel & Turne...

Introduction: Given the sustained attacks on LGB+ rights, it is essential to identify how and for whom support for same-sex relationships changes over time. Methods: The present study examines distinct growth trajectories of support for the Civil Union Act (2009–2016) and same-sex marriage (2013–2023) across 11 waves of longitudinal panel data ( N = 65,407) spanning 14 years. Results: Multi-trajectory latent class growth curve analysis identified three distinct growth trajectories. The high supporter class (68.32%) reported high support for the Civil Union Act and same-sex marriage that (slowly) increased until reaching the ceiling for policy support. The moderate supporter class (17.87%) demonstrated moderate and increasing support for the Civil Union Act and same-sex marriage. Finally, the low supporter class (13.81%) displayed low but increasing support for both legislations. Class membership differed across sexual and religious identification, gender, and age. Those high in conservative ideologies including sexual prejudice, right-wing authoritarianism and hostile sexism were more likely to belong to the moderate and low (compared to high) supporter classes. The moderate and low supporters were also more likely to support—and vote for—conservative political parties. Conclusions: We reveal that support for same-sex relationships is increasingly normative and identify the subgroup of the population (most likely) responsible for the ongoing animosity toward LGB+ people. Policy Implications: Policymakers should note that threats to undermine LGB+ rights conflict with the majority of the public’s attitudes toward same-sex relationships. We recommend monitoring the low supporter class to protect LGB+ rights and prevent the adoption of anti-democratic norms.

The impassioned advocacy both for and against Indigenous rights in recent years suggests a polarization of public opinion. Accordingly, we theorize increasingly divided endorsement of two ideologies that challenge Indigenous rights to material and symbolic equality—historical negation and symbolic exclusion, respectively (the ‘Dark Duo’). Using latent class growth analysis, we test for distinct classes of change in the Dark Duo over 16 years (2009–2025) among a national probability sample of New Zealand adults ( N = 43,020). As expected, results reveal a subgroup of Progressives (76.84%) with lower levels of historical negation and symbolic exclusion that decreased over time and a smaller subgroup of Reactionaries (23.16%) with higher levels of these ideologies that increased over the same period. Demographic and socio‐political variables predicted class membership, and support for political parties varied across classes. Thus, the current study illustrates the presence and implications of ideological polarization towards Indigenous rights.

The benefits of social connections for well‐being are often assumed, yet few studies test whether social support predicts mental health over extended periods nor whether these effects are experienced equally across women and men. We address this gap by examining gender differences in the longitudinal associations between perceived social support and psychological distress using 14 annual waves of a nationwide panel study ( N = 75,404; 62.1% women). Multigroup random intercept cross‐lagged panel modelling revealed that within‐person increases in perceived social support predicted subsequent declines in psychological distress over time for both women and men. However, this relationship was bidirectional, and the negative within‐person effects of psychological distress on perceived social support were stronger than the effects of perceived social support on psychological distress among men (but not women). Analyses exploring gender interactions with age, sexual identity and ethnicity revealed that the effects of psychological distress were strongest among older, New Zealand European and heterosexual men. These results suggest that men's psychological distress leads to decreased perceptions of social support from others in their lives, and this effect is more pronounced than the effect of social support over the same timeframe. The implications for health interventions are discussed.

In recent decades, the world has witnessed numerous violent demonstrations in which some protesters use violence to achieve their goals, and some police officers use violence to silence protesters. Drawing on the Elaborated Social Identity Model (ESIM) and procedural justice theory, we argue that police use of force increases activists’ identification with radical protesters and perceptions of procedural injustice. In turn, identification with radical protesters and procedural injustice should foster support for protester violence. We tested these hypotheses using three waves of longitudinal panel data (n = 1,514) from Chile collected after the 2019 Social Outbreak, which saw violence from both protesters and police. In our data, 404 protesters in wave 1 (31.69% of protesters) reported experiencing police repression, which allows us to examine its effect on identification with radical protesters, perceived procedural injustice, and the justification of violent collective action. Consistent with the ESIM, results reveal a significant positive correlation between experiencing police violence and identification with radical protesters across waves. In turn, identification with radical protesters correlated positively with the justification of protester violence. The effect of police violence on procedural injustice was, however, less clear. Although experiencing police repression did not directly impact perceptions of procedural injustice, it did so indirectly via identification with violent protesters. Procedural injustice also had a positive effect on the justification of protester violence. We conclude by discussing the implications of these results on the role of police in the escalation of violence and for promoting peaceful methods of protest.

Members of ethnic majority groups vary in their perceptions of ingroup status; some see their group as disadvantaged, whereas others recognise its structural privilege. Consistent with this idea, using latent profile analysis to disentangle the cognitive and affective components of group-based relative deprivation in a probability sample of New Zealand Europeans (N = 38,415), we identified five distinct profiles in the ethnic-majority population. These were: Low Deprivation (45.1%), Moderate Deprivation (31.0%), High Deprivation (10.1%), High Cognitive Deprivation (3.1%), and a novel profile characterized by emotional discomfort about the ingroup’s privilege (i.e., high affective/low cognitive deprivation; 10.7%). Members of this Frustrated Gratification profile were the strongest supporters of liberal political attitudes, social equality, and Māori political mobilization, and had the lowest levels of modern racism. These profiles replicated in two samples from the UK. Thus, our results uncover a previously unknown profile of relative deprivation with important implications for social change.